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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25832737">Trapped In Another World</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloud__Chaser/pseuds/Cloud__Chaser'>Cloud__Chaser</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Katekyou Hitman Reborn!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>A Few OCs For World Building, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, BAMF Skull (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Demons, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, Isekai, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Arcobaleno, Protectiveness, Team as Family, They're Not Main Characters Though, Truck-Kun Will Make An Appearance, no beta we die like men, possessive arcobaleno</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 03:28:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>34,723</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25832737</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloud__Chaser/pseuds/Cloud__Chaser</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The world's greatest stuntman, Skull De Mort, had a pretty good life, with thousands of adoring fans, and thrillings stunts he was practically living the dream. But all that ended when some creepy bastard in a checkered mask decided to fuck up his life and drop him in an unfamiliar world with only one instruction.</p><p>Complete the set.</p><p>Or, Skull gets Isekai'd. Featuring all the cheesy Isekai cliches.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Arcobaleno &amp; Skull (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Arcobaleno/Skull (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Colonnello/Skull (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Fon/Skull (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Lal Mirch/Skull, Mammon | Viper/Skull, Reborn/Skull (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Skull/Verde (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>143</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>502</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>A Collection of Beloved Inserts, Time Travel and World Travel</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1: An Unfortunate Turn of Events</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">The door slammed shut with a resounding bang.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“Oh. My. God!” Cheered a bright individual with peculiar messy bright purple hair with makeup to match, and an assortment of piercings. His youthful face beamed with a grin. “That was amazing! I've never managed to land a quadruple forward flip on my bike without wiping out!”</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">The ground beneath the youth's feet vibrated in time with the thundering roars of the crowd in the main circus tent. Each and every person shouting the same name over and over in excitement.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Skull.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">The man himself let out another breathless laugh, followed by a jubilant whoop as he threw himself down onto his hard mattress, too happy to complain about the three broken springs jutting into his spine. The violent bounced sent his helmet careening off of the edge of the bed and onto the floor with a thud.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Skull's heavy breathing slowed almost in time with the ebbing of the crowd at the end of the show. Through the thin walls of his campavan, the stuntman could hear the excited conversations of the crowd as they departed.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“Did you see what Skull did at the end?! I've never seen anything like it! On top of the spike pits, lions and rings of fire, he really must be immortal! No one's as lucky as that!” Was just one of many exclamations from gobsmacked circus goers.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">The light streaming through the grimy windows dimmed as the sun dipped below the horizon, and the voices of the crowd ebbed with it. Once the murmurs had faded completely into silence, Skull heaved himself back up off of his bed with a content sigh.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“Welp, time to check in with the others!” Skull brought his gloved hands up to his face to rub the tiredness away from his heavy eyes, taking care not to smudge his- immaculate as always- makeup. He shuffled his way through the cramped space of his rundown little campavan towards the door-</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“Oh man! I must have shut it harder than I thought.” On of the hinges had detached from the door frame, leaving the door itself hanging at an angle. “Well, it was on its way out already, i'll just add new door hinges to the list!”</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Gingerly, Skull pushed the thin plastic door open with a single finger, trying not to completely detach the door from its frame. He didn't need anyone peeking in on his private business thank-you-very-much.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Hopping out onto the yellowing grass with a jaunty whistle, Skull made his way to the community tent, where he knew that the rest of the circus crew were waiting. The ground was littered with the usual aftermath of one of their shows. Popcorn and peanuts mostly.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">On his way to his destination, colourful confetti softly fell from the skies, fluttering softly like snow in the orange light of the setting sun. Various posters attached to hastily erected wooden poles depicted the acts that the circus offered. Skull himself was featured on a couple, posed like an absolute badass (If he doesn't say so himself) on his motorcycle, along with beast tamer, acrobats, and strongmen. Grayson Circus was proudly emblazoned in eye catching gold at the bottom of ever poster.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Between these poles hung bunting with vivid colours in the order of the rainbow. As Skull's eyes traced the alternating colours, a pang of longing settled deep in his chest, stopping him in his tracks.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“W-what...?”</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Skull pressed a hand tightly to his chest in pained confusion at the sudden sensation, eyes still locked on the rainbow bunting.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <em>What is this-?</em>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“Skull?”</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Skull's frantic musing was cut off by the voice of a girl. Startled, Skull whipped around only to find one of the trapeze artists, a petite girl in her early twenties standing behind him, her brow pinched in concern. Against his will, Skull felt his eyes being drawn down the trapeze artist's sky blue leotard to rest at the multitude of chords tied at her waist.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">A rainbow.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Seeing the colours together caused Skull's throat to tighten as the intense feeling of longing grew stronger.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“Are you alright Skull?”</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Skull's cheeks heated in embarrassment as he tore his gaze away from the girl's waist.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western"><em>Wow, way to be a creep Skull. </em>He scolded himself internally. <em>OK, act natural.</em></p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“Y-yeah! I'm totally fine leah! Peachy! See, fit as a fiddle! Not a problem in sight! Are you OK!?”</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <em>Nailed it.</em>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Leah raised a single brow.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“Okaaay? Well, never mind that, come on, everyone's waiting for you!” With a bemused shake of her head, the trapeze artist spun on her heel and walked back the way she came.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Inwardly congratulating himself on his ability to stay cool under pressure, Skull followed along behind her.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">After a couple of minutes walking the pair reached their destination, the community tent. The community tent was, as the name suggested, a large tent primarily made out of deep red fabric. Once skull had crossed the threshold into the tent, the group gathered inside burst into a loud cheer.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">From his place against the wall, Circus Master Grayson himself called out to Skull. “Well doen tonight Skull! You had the crown singing in their seats!” he crowed with a voice likened to melted chocolate. Every movement of his head sent his long curled moustache bobbing through the humid air.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Skull bashfully rubbed a gloved hand against the back of his neck, even as he replied loudly. “As expected of the Great Immortal Skull! Am I right?”</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">He was answered by a deafening cheer.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“Alright, alright, quiet everyone! Has everyone written down what they need on this weeks read-me list?” Circus Master Grayson was answered by a sea of affirmatives.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“Right, it's your turn this week Skull, take the company card to pay. Happy trails!” Grayson said as he handed over a folded list along with the card that contained the shared funds of the circus company.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Tucking that card into a small zipped pocket, Skull exited the tent as fast as he had entered, keen to escape the packed space. The strange longing had died down to a low simmer, but it hadn't disappeared completely. For some reason, seeing the rest of the Circus comapany had only made irt worse...</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Skull shook his head, forcefully expelling any negative thoughts. This wasn't like him at all! Stay positive! With a resolute nod. Skull decided to take a look at what he needed to get and unfolded the paper.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">The list unfolded into a single A4 sheet of paper packed full with items that everyone either wanted or needed.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <em>OK, this isn't so bad! </em>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Another sheet of paper taped to the bottom of the first fell into view. Then another. Then another. Until the list reached the ground and then some.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <em>Welp.</em>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Quickly scanning the contents of the list, Skull created a loose game plan. First stop, Town centre. With a resolute nod, Skull marched to his motorcycle.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <em>Better keep away from the back alleys though, even though they would make a great shortcut...</em>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">The circus group was currently stopped in Naples, And Skull did NOT need any run-ins with the Mafia. He risked his life enough on a daily basis without throwing guns into the mix.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Skull re-folded the list and stuck it in the same pocket as the card as he mounted his motorcycle. His baby would be able to take him where he needed to go in a jiffy!</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Naples really was a beautiful city, Skull thought to himself as he cruised down the city streets, ignoring anyone who looked even slightly suspicious. Eventually, he reached his destination in the city centre, keeping his eyes peeled for that one hardware shop that he saw had a massive sale on his way past the week before.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <em>Time to get me some new hinges!</em>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Skull parked his bike by the side of the road, double checking that the lock was firmly in place before trekking across the street to the hardware shop.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">As he peered through the shopfront window at the displays, a glinting reflection in the glass caught Skull's eye. It was so... Pretty. In a trance like state, Skull slowly turned to find whatever was reflecting in the glass behind him. Immediately, his eyes locked onto a parked car on the opposite side of the road. The car itself wasn't that special, just your run of the mill family car, painted a soft grey. But that wasn't what had drawn Skull's attention...</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">On the back bumper of the car, there was a sticker. A circular bright yellow sticker with 'Baby on board!' emblazoned boldly in black text. Right in the middle of the sticker was a cartoon rendition of a rainbow.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <em>Rainbow...</em>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">The intense longing from before returned tenfold. Skull was tugged forwards by this feeling, it was as if a rope had been tied around his heart and he was being yanked towards this sticker. His vision narrowed until all that was visible was the cartoon rainbow.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Skull was so focused on getting to the car on the other side of the road, that he didn't notice the truck speeding towards him...</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Skull was gradually woken by a sharp pain in his side and head.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <em>What happened? A rainbow... A Truck... Am I DEAD?!</em>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Skull's eyes snapped open in panic, only to rest on a black and white checkered mask hovering inches above his face.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Skull let out a high pitched ear piercing scream.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">At the painful noise, the other man quickly leaned away, rubbing at his ears.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“Calm down.” The checkered masked man commanded. “And before you ask, no you are not dead, I have merely plucked you out of your regular plane of existence. I just had to eject your soul from your body first.”</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">
  <em>E-eject my soul?! From my BODY?!!</em>
</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“Who- who are you?” Skull asked with a shaking voice, terrified out of his mind.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“My name is not important”</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Skull was going to call him Checker Face. Serves him right for being a creep. A quick look at his surroundings didn't reveal much of use. Checker Face was the only thing that Skull could actually see, the rest of the space was filled with darkness stretching out into the void. Skull quickly turned away from the endless blackness with a shiver. Who knew what could be lurking, just out of sight?</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“After all this time, I've finally found you. You have somehow been hidden from my sight until now. The set can finally be complete...”</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Skull had no idea what the creep was talking about.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">“Set, what set? Are you insane?” Skull shouted ,slightly hysterical.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">Checker face shook his head. “We don't have much time, you will end up in a world not your own. You would do well to learn the rules of this new society. And remember, you need to find the others, together, you will become the strongest seven, and bring balance to the worlds.”</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
<p class="western">With those final words, a bright white light enveloped Checker Face and Skull, Obscuring the ever reaching darkness from view.</p>
<p class="western"> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. A Whole New World</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">As the blinding light faded, Skull slowly opened his eyes, afraid of what he might see. To his relief, the only thing immediately visible was white cotton clouds lazily drifting across a beautiful azure sky.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Cautiously, Skull sat up slowly taking in his unfamiliar surroundings. It looked like he was on top of a regular grassy hill, although he didn't recognise the area in the slightest. A faint spark of hope ignited in Skull's chest as he spotted what looked to be a small town in the distance.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>Hey, maybe it's not so bad! I'm sure someone there will be able to tell me if there are any busses back to Naples! Maybe they'll recognise the Stuntsman that Death himself hates!</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Nodding resolutely to himself, Skull began the journey to the town below, only to halt in surprise. He didn't feel the usual pull of his tight leather biking suit. Skull frantically looked down at himself, seeing not his usual attire, but something else entirely...</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>What the hell?! Did that creep undress me?!</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Instead of his trusty bike suit, Skull now sported clothes that looked like they had been ripped straight from a JRPG. He was wearing plain black trousers which were held up by a brown leather belt with useful utility pockets attached. A peculiar purple (Thank god) shirt which was rolled up to his elbows, black leather fingerless gloves, and a frankly kickass pair of knee high boots.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">All in all, not nearly as bad as it could have been, judging from Checker Face's abysmal mask, it could have been- Skull shuddered to think- checkered patterned clothes. Ugh.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>Still creepy that he changed my clothes though... WAIT.</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Did Checker Face take the change that he had in his bike suit? <em>Shit! </em>Skull frantically patted himself down in search of change, growing more panicked by the second until he felt the clinking of coins in one of the pouches on his belt.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>Bingo.</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull pulled put his handful of change.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>Or not.</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western"><em>What the hell is this? </em>Skull thought to himself. <em>These aren't euros! </em>In his hand sat a generous pile of copper, silver, and gold coins. It wasn't like any currency that Skull had ever seen, and he'd been to a lot of places while travelling with the circus. A roaring dragon was stamped on one side of the coins, and other featured the side profile of a stern looking young man wearing a crown.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>This is starting to shape up into a pattern that I don't think I like...</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull shook his head from side to side and lightly slapped his cheeks. No need to panic, he should just get down to the town and ask around! It's probably just some tiny country in the middle of Europe somewhere! Like Lichtenstein! That place is tiny!</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Once he had psyched himself back up, Skull marched purposefully down the hill and towards the town below again.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">With nothing better to do, Skull surveyed the nature around him. The longer he looked, the further his heart dropped into his stomach. Tall, green trees grew spindly branches in whimsical swirls and patterns through the air, bearing an oblong orange fruit with bright green swirls on the surface. On these branches sat large birds with brilliant gold feathers pecking intermittently at the colourful fruit. Their crimson streaked tail feathers were so long that they almost brushed the ground.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>Toto, I'm starting to believe that we're not in Kansas anymore...</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">On his way down the hill, Skull caught sight of what looked to be a main road of some sort, although calling it a road was a bit generous. It was more like a wide dirt path which barely fit two cars side by side.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Perfect!” Skull exclaimed. A road would make his journey that much easier. Maybe things were finally looking up!</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Before he had even finished his sentence, an ominous rumble sounded from beneath his feet. Skull scrambled backwards as fast as he could as the faint vibrations rapidly grew stronger by the second. The ground where Skull had been standing a split second ago exploded, showering him with a layer of dry earth with deafening <em>bang</em>.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“What. The. Actual. Fuck.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Protruding from the newly made hole in front of the stuntman writhed the head of what looked like a worm. A giant, absolutely disgusting mud brown worm with way too many eyes. With armor. Skull was frozen with fear, unable to move as the worm's jaw unhinged with an ear piercing screech, revealing three separate rows of razor sharp teeth.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Faster than Skull could track, the two story tall armoured worm lunged towards the prone stuntman. Skull screwed his eyes shut, seeing no escape from his inevitable death.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">A loud clang reverberated in the space in front of him.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">When the pain didn't come, Skull slowly cracked his eyes open. To his relief, instead of the worm on steroids from hell, Skull saw the broad back of a man decked out in gleaming silver armor. The man's muscles bulged with effort as he held back the worm with a shield larger than Skull was tall. Tiny green sparks danced up and down the man's straining back.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>Holy crap! How strong is this guy?!</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Ngh, hey. You might want to move.” The man grunted with strain as he held back the worm.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Snapped out of his stupor, Skull frantically nodded. “R-right!” The stuntman struggled to rise to his feet. His muscles felt like jelly, and after a couple of seconds of trembling, Skull thumped back onto the ground.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The feeling of slender hands winding under his shoulder blades and knees made Skull nearly startle out of his skin.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Hey calm down! I got'ya!” His mystery rescuer cheerfully reassured before they yelled over the top of Skull's head. “Come on guys, your line of fire's clear!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Oh shut up Ly, we know!” A miffed sounding girl's voice called out somewhere behind Skull and his rescuer. How many of them were there?! “Ok Han, now!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">At the signal, the man holding back the worm spun to the side, letting the giant worm slide of the edge of his shield and crash into the dirt. With an outraged screech, the monster reared its head back up into the air and prepared for another lunge.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Before the worm could attack again, an arrow, almost too fast for Skull to see, shot past the stuntman's head with barely a whisper and pierced one of the worm's many eyes. The monster reared back with a mighty roar of pain.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Firebolt!” The same girl's voice from before shouted.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">A split second later, a great plume of flame singed the tips of Skull's purple hair and disappeared into the worm's shrieking mouth. With a sizzle accompanied by the sickening scent of burnt flesh, the monster thumped to the ground, still twitching.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Just when Skull thought that it was over, he heard the sound of running footsteps. Suddenly, another man appeared, leaping over the smoking carcass, the newcomer brought his katana down onto the worm's neck. The blade sank through steaming flesh like a knife through butter.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The shield bearer- Han, swung his shield onto his back and turned around with a comforting smile. “Well, now that that's over with, are you okay?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Han's soothing tone was drowned out by a squeal to Skull's left. “Oh my Gods! He's so cute! Ly put him down you lech!” following the shout, a tall girl with a quiver strapped to her back appeared at Skull's side. Her long brown ponytail swayed in the wind as she violently poked his rescuer- Ly in the arm until he reluctantly set Skull down on his feet, though he kept a steadying hand on Skull's arm.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Once skull had caught his balance on his wobbly legs, he finally managed to get a good look at the group that had saved him.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">There were six people in total, with three girls, and three guys. The first of which being Han, a man built like a shit brick-house. He had short brown hair and eyes and wore a heavy set of silver armour. As Skull had seen before, he had an absolutely enormous green and grey shield strapped to his back.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">His rescuer- Ly, was taller than Skull himself, but leaner than Han, although Skull could feel that despite being deceptively thin, the man was still ripped. Ly had hair messy red hair roughly the same length as Skull's kept in check by a black headband. Unlike Han, Ly wore looser clothing with a simple breastplate, and a blue sash tied around his waist.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull's observations were cut short by Han sighing and running a hand down his face in exasperation. “That's enough you two, Lilith, could you look him over for any injuries please?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">A small girl with short blonde hair stepped forward, clutching a long wooden staff to her chest. “Status check!” She called with a soft high pitched voice, her white and yellow robe fluttering softly in the breeze. A soft yellow light surrounded Skull, suffusing a gentle warmth into his bones.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“No injuries, he looks fin- wait. This energy!” Lilith exclaimed softly.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Han looked over sharply. “The same energy that the guild leader wanted us to find?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Lilith nodded in response.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Ly grinned and slapped Skull lightly on the back. “Looks like you're gonna be sticking around with us for a while longer!” He said cheerfully.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull gulped slightly, suddenly nervous about their intentions.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>What do they mean... Energy? I that Checker Face bastard did something weird to me while I was sleeping! Creep!</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">These people just saved him, they wouldn't throw him to the wolves straight after, right?</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The girl with the bow stepped forward and slapped the back of Ly's head.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“OW! What the hell Haru?!” Ly yelled while clutching his head.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Idiot! Don't you have any tact? Or manners?” Haru's light leather armour moved with barely a whisper as she turned back to Skull, red hair ribbon fluttering in the breeze. “I'm sorry for this moron! Our guild leader sensed a weird energy in this area, and sent us to check it out. Would you mind coming back with us to our guild? If you've got any weird curse stuck to you, our guild leader can get dispel it for sure!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Lilith nodded in agreement.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Looking at both girls' pleading eyes, Skull quickly gave in. Brining a hand up to rub at the back of his neck, Skull nodded bashfully in agreement. “I-I guess so. You guys did just save me from that ugly thing back there!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Speaking of, you've got to have the worst luck ever! The Ubi-Vermis never come this far down south!” A perky voice sounded from behind the stuntman. When Skull turned around, a girl with violet hair stood with her hands on her black clad hips. Once she saw Skull's eyes on her, her face split with a beaming grin.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Hey, I'm Aline! Our party's resident sorcerer!” Aline twisted her neck to look back at the treeline behind her. “Oi! Come on out! Don't leave our guest waiting!” She turned back to the group, “Sorry about him, he doesn't like crowds.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Before Skull's eyes, the swordsman from earlier slunk from the shadows of the trees and into the light before gracefully making his way to the group. Albeit reluctantly judging from the furrow of his brow.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western"><em>Wow, I can't be that bad can I? </em>Skull thought to himself, taken aback by the man's reluctance to be in the Great Skull-Sama's presence.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">As the man got closer, Skull was able to pick out individual features. His long hair, a similar shade to skull's, was pulled back into a high ponytail and secured with a sturdy chord with bells attached to the ends. Skull marvelled at how he managed to move without them ringing.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">When the man got close enough, Haru took over the introductions. “And this is Leif, the last of our party! Come and say hello Leif!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">With a put upon sigh, Leif ventured even closer to the group before coming to a stop right in front of Skull. Steel grey eyes roved over Skull's form critically and stopped at a rip in the stuntman's shirt. Skull shrank in embarrassment, thinking back on how he was frozen solid in the face of danger. Leif snorted derisively, making skull flinch backwards. Rolling his eyes, Leif tore his short cloak from his shoulders and threw it over Skull's head before disappearing back into the forest.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Ly's mouth hung open in disbelief. “Wow! He really likes you! I've never seen him act so nice!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull raised a single eyebrow in doubt. Nice? That guy was probably the scariest person Skull had ever met! And he worked at a circus for crying out loud!</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Han caught Skull's expression and laughed good naturedly. “No really! Leif <em>really</em> doesn't take well to strangers. The last escort mission we went on, he threw his soup at the guy's face just because he tried to talk to him!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull gulped nervously. He had really dodged a bullet there, huh?</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“But enough about that! Let's get you to the guild master!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western"> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Heyo! This chapter went on for longer than I expected! </p><p>But since i can't get my head around embedding images on AO3, I'm just going to put the twitter link here to some art that I made of Skull's snazzy new outfit :)))) </p><p>https://twitter.com/Dirkapitation1/status/1293721941526884352/photo/1</p><p>I Hope that you enjoyed the chapter!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Wow, these chapters are getting longer and longer lolol. They just seem to write themselves!</p><p>Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">The rag-tag group trooped down the dirt road in a tight cluster around Skull, well, except for Leif. The swordsman had disappeared after the group introduction and the stuntman hadn't seen him since.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“So, what's your name, oh mysterious traveller?” Ly asked in a jaunty tone walking backwards in front of Skull and pressing a hand to his chest.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull startled, realising that indeed. He hadn't told the group his name. Rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, Skull replied, “O-oh yeah! My name's Skull! I'm a stuntman! Oh, about that, after I meet with your guild master, could you tell me the best way to get back to Naples?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">In unison, the group around him made confused noises. “Naples? Where's that?” Aline asked, her brows pinched in puzzlement.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull's heart dropped to the pit of his stomach.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“It's a city in Italy! You've got to have heard of Italy, right? Everybody knows Italy!” Skull waved his arms in the air to emphasize his point of how utterly ridiculous the situation was.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">At the same chorus of confused 'eh's?' Skull's arm waving evolved into full on flailing,</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“England?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Eh?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Europe?!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Eh?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“America?!!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Eh?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“<em>Earth</em>?!!?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">A figurative lightbulb lit up over Haru's head. “Oh!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">A wide grin brightened the panicking stuntman's face, warm relief bubbling up in his purple clad chest.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“You mean this right?” Haru stomped her foot hard down onto the ground below. “Earth is another name for dirt right? Right guys?” She turned back to the group walking around them, and was met with agreeing nods and hums.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull deflated like a discarded balloon, all hope of finding a way home from the group of adventurers blown to smithereens.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Hey, what do you look so down for Skull?” Han asked, looking back over his shoulder.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“I just want to get back to my circus.” Realising how sappy his words sounded, Skull straightened his back and exclaimed loudly. “I-I mean, they'd be lost without me you know!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Ly's ears perked at the word 'circus'. “Hey, you live in a circus right? Bet you're hella flexible then amirite?” Ly waggled his eyebrows at the blushing stuntman, only to jerk forward as Haru ruthlessly slapped the back of his head.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“You idiot! Do you seriously have to hit on anything that breathes?! I'm so sorry about this lech Skull, the rest of our party isn't like this I swear!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“OW! Are you crazy, woman! Besides, I don't hit on anything that breathes, I would never stoop so low as to hit on a gorilla like you!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Ly's retort sparked a brawl between the two party members. To avoid the flying fists and the thick cloud of dust kicked up by their scuffle, Skull sped up his pace slightly to walk beside Han instead.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Han scratched his cheek lightly and sheepishly said to Skull, “I'm sorry about those two, they'll stop by themselves soon enough.” Lilith nodded her head enthusiastically in agreement.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">After a while of walking the group eventually reached the gates of the town that Skull had seen earlier. Haru and Ly had stopped fighting around a mile back, and had devolved into poking each other in the side like grumpy four year olds.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The gates were as tall as three men and crafted out of some of the sturdiest wooden logs that Skull had ever seen. The top of each log was sharpened into wicked looking points, most likely to stop anyone from attempting to climb over. Stood in front of the gates were two bored looking guards dressed in forest green tunics and unflattering steel helmets.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">At the group's approach, the guards perked up and clutched their spears tighter.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Halt! Identify yourselves!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Han turned and patted Skull on the shoulder. “Stay here for a moment please, I'll go and sort you out a pass into the town.” With a wave, Han jogged over to the guards, armour clinking slightly at the man's movement.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">At the sight of the party leader, the guards thankfully relaxed their tense stances, sending a wave of relief down Skull's chest. After a few minutes of inaudible conversation and wild gestures, Han returned with a trumphant grin on his face, and a silver card grasped in his hand.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Here you go Skull, with this, you'll be able to enter and leave the town for two weeks without paying the entry tax!” Han held out the card to the stuntman.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull's throat closed up at Han's easy smile, a surge of emotion rising in his chest. No one had ever been so kind to him when he needed it, not even the others at the circus. Life at the circus was every man for themselves. Fighting back moved tears, Skull reached out to grasp the offered entry card, a wobbly smile spreading across his face.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Th-thanks!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">A sudden pat to the back startled Skull out of his fuzzy-feelings-fest and he turned to see Aline grinning behind him. “Don't cry pretty boy! You'll ruin your perfect make up!” Lilith and Ly nodded in agreement.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull wasn't sure whether to feel embarrassed at being caught, or happy at the complement to his make-up. People back in Europe and America weren't nearly as accepting, Skull himself had a couple of close calls just a few weeks back with a couple of guys outside a make-up store that weren't too happy that Skull had chosen his sparkly eyeshadow to wear that day.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Shaking off any lingering sentiment, Skull donned his stuntman persona. “Right you guys, let's get moving!” Skull power walked to the now open gates excitement brewing under his skin, the rest of the party on his heels.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>Ahh, civilisation! Let's see what I'm working with! Maybe someone'll have a phone I can borrow to call Circus Master Grayson!</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull broke out into a jog, unable to contain himself at the thought of being able to return home. Passing through the gates, Skull ground to a halt. A mix of hopelessness and horror welled up in his throat, making it hard to breath.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>No way... Am I even on the right planet?...</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The town on the other side of the gates was an entirely different world. Some sort of market on steroids was taking place just inside the town gates. Compared to the silence outside of the gates, the town was absolutley deafening. There was barely enough space for Skull to stand, with the streets being packed to the brim with bustling crowds. A myriad of colours danced across Skull's vision from the combination of the cloth of the stalls fluttering in the wind, and the strange and wonderful outfits of the crowd weaving in and out of each other like a school of minnows.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The high energy of the crowd brought a sharp pang of nostalgia. Skull missed the roars of the crowd back home...</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">A shout of “Potions! Get your potions here!” drew Skull's attention over to the left, where a blonde woman in her forties was gesturing wildly down at her displayed wares. She was an apron that looked like it used to be white, but it was hard to tell the original colour underneath heavy spatters of what looked to be some sort of paint.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">As his eyes naturally followed the direction of the woman's enthusiastic flailing, Skull's mouth dropped open at the sight of what the woman had on sale.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>Is this an RPG or something?!</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Haphazardly strewn across the stall's bench were glass bottles filled with a viscous glowing liquid. The round bottles contained brilliant red liquid, and the angular ones a blue liquid.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Following Skull's line of sight, Haru snapped her fingers. “Right! We need to stock up on health and mana potions! Go on without me, I'll catch up!” With those parting words, Haru spun on her heel and jogged to the potion stall.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western"><em>Health? Mana? I must be dreaming. </em>Skull pinched his arm. <em>Ow! Definitely not dreaming! Welp, that explains the fireball from earlier...</em></p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Small hands grasping at Skull's elbow startled the stuntman out of his reverie. “Come on, or we'll lose you in the crowd!” Aline's bubbly voice barely audible above the buzz of the crowd. Skull allowed her to tug him towards the group, which had started off down the street while Skull was distracted.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">On the party's journey down the streets, Skull's RPG theory grew more and more likely with each market stall they passed. An absolutely ripped old man in a blacksmith's apron selling an array of wicked looking weapons ranging from the smallest of daggers, to a huge war hammer larger than Skull was tall. An absolutely beautiful woman dressed in revealing witch's robes flaunting a range of wooden staffs similar to Lilith's, and crystals that glowed softly in the midday sun.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">After a while of walking, the crowds began to thin out, signalling that they were leaving the market area. Skull felt a faint sense of disappointment, at leaving behind the wonders on sale, wanting to explore his alien surroundings more.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“U-um, Mister Skull, we're almost there...” The stuntman could barely pick up the stuttering voice of the healer, even though the streets were much quieter away from the market.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">A heavy weight dropped over Skull's shoulders, still clad in the borrowed cloak from the still missing Leif. “Wow! Lilith doesn't usually talk to strangers! She must really like you Skull! I haven't seen her be this sociable outside of the party in... Ever actually!” Chimed Ly's voice from beside Skull's ear.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Eh? That was sociable?</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The man tugged Skull closer to his chest. “It's weird though, I feel strangely drawn to you too...” Ly trailed off before he shook his head quickly from side to side. “Well, anyway, here we are!” Ly threw out his free arm to point at the building in front of them.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The guild building looked like a typical medieval tavern from the outside, but when Han pushed open the doors, the inside was completely the opposite. The building was packed with other adventurers in intimidatingly expensive looking armour stood together in clear groups. The creak of the doors opening drew the attention of everyone in the guild hall as they all turned in unison to look at the newcomers. The stares of the occupants of the building exuded a power so strong that Skull could almost feel it pressing him into the stone floor.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Shoulders hunching up from the pressure of the guild's eyes, Skull slowly inched backwards towards the door, only to bump into a firm chest. The stuntman slowly looked up, dreading what he might see, and squeaked in surprise when he met Leif's cold eyes.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Muttering apologies, Skull attempted to scoot away from the swordsman. But before he could escape, Skull was caught by the back of his collar and hauled behind Leif's broad back. Leif glared at the guild members who were still brave enough to stare. Quickly, they all turned back to their conversations.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Wow Leif! You never come into the guild building! Did you want something?” Aline chirped as she trotted over.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">With a scoff, the swordsman disappeared into thin air.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Aww, that guy's so grumpy! He's probably gone to brood on the roof, he doesn't like crowds y'know? Anyway, come on! We've gotta tell the Guild Master you're here!” With that, Aline grabbed Skull's arm and dragged him towards one of the two counters at the back of the room.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull really was getting dragged a lot today wasn't he?</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Behind the counter, stood in front of a giant hanging flag depicting two crossed flowers over two crossed arrows and talking to the rest of the party was a pretty woman with silver hair and wolf ears- <em>WAIT, WOLF EARS?!</em></p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull did a double take at the woman and discovered that she did indeed, have fluffy white wolf ears sticking out of her smooth platinum hair.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The lady giggled lightly at Skull's dumbstruck expression and asked playfully, “You've never seen a beastman before, have you cutie?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull's face burned red at the comment. What was with people and calling him cute in this place? He wasn't cute! He was death, he was the night!</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Although that's not really surprising, you're not registered with another guild are you?” She hummed at Skull's silent, embarrassed nod. “Right, didn't think so, you don't have any guild markers on you.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">She crossed her arms under her ample chest and leant her elbows on the worn, wooden counter. “Since you're not in a guild, it wouldn't be surprising that you haven't seen any of us beastmen before, we don't really come this far east aside from guild work! Anyway, you guys are here about the mission that the Guild Master gave to you right? Go right on up, he's expecting you.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Thanks Mira, we'll see you later.” Han nodded back at her and led the way to a staircase hidden in the shadows of the guild counter.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Framed wanted posters of fearsome looking monsters lined the walls of the staircase. “Hey guys? What are those?” Skull, unable to hold his curiosity any longer, pointed to the bounties.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Oh, those? Those are demons our guild has killed. Oh and do me a favour, if you see any of those demon bastards... Run. They'll rip you to shreds and laugh at your steaming corpse. They're all pure evil.” Ly growled, a murderous glint in his eye.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western"><em>S-scary...</em> Skull gulped.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Looking around him, he noticed that the rest of the group had similar rage burning behind their eyes, even the meek Lilith. Shuddering, Skull decided to let the subject drop.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“A-anyway, where's this Guild Master that I'm supposed to meet?” Skull inwardly winced at the crack in his voice.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">In an instant, the murderous atmosphere dissipated, leaving behind the cheerful group of friends that he was familiar-ish- with.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Right! His office is just up here!” Aline said cheerfully, as if nothing had happened. The group reached the top of the staircase, thankfully leaving the demon bounty posters behind.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">After a short walk down a long hallway, the group eventually reached a pair of large mahogany doors with the same flower emblem from downstairs carved beautifully into the gleaming wood. After giving Skull a reassuring smile, Han knocked twice, then pushed the heavy looking doors open.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Inside was a room painted blinding white. Behind a large desk, in a plush chair, sat the room's only occupant. Since they were facing away from the door, the only distinguishing feature that Skull could make out was their snow white hair.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Finally~” A man's voice rang out.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Slowly turning to face the group, a man with a spiky purple mark below his violet left eye popped a marshmallow into his mouth.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Speaking through the sticky fluff, the man continued, “Welcome to the Millefiore guild wanderer! My name is Byakuran, the Guild Master.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Marshmallows?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Wahey! Another chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">“Welcome to the Millefiore guild wanderer! My name is Byakuran, the Guild Master.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The white haired man- Byakuran, chirped at the group. Somehow, the man's overwhelming cheerfulness unsettled something deep down in Skull's stomach. Byakuran's wide grin paired with his intense violet stare gave Skull the distinct impression of a wolf stalking its prey, inches away from pouncing.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">A cold bead of sweat rolled down Skull's spine as Byakuran forced Skull to meet his stare, maintaining intense eye contact for an uncomfortable thirty seconds. Skull tried to hide his sigh of relief when Byakuran suddenly broke the silent stand off and pulled open a draw in his desk to pull out a brown paper bag.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Settling back in his chair to observe the group, Byakuran reached into the paper bag and pulled out- <em>Wait, are those marshmallows?</em></p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Pinched between the Guild Master's thin fingers was a small, squishy, white ball. Skull's suspicions were confirmed as Byakuran tossed the sweet treat into his mouth and chewed with relish.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“You recognise these right, Mr Wanderer? It's a shame that no one here makes them, I have to get my guild's alchemists to help the chefs with it! Although they never could get the shape right...” Byakuran spoke around the marshmallow in his mouth, hand already reaching for more.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>Oh yeah! I thought that they looked a little weird, aren't marshmallows normally- WAIT A SECOND! </em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull had an epiphany. If they can't make them here, then how did he know what they're supposed to look like? Marshmallows were a food from Skull's world! The previously dashed feeling of hope rose up again in Skull's chest. <em>If he knows that marshmallows were from my world, and he knows how to make them, then maybe he knows how to send me back!</em></p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Come here and let me look at your status window, Mister Wanderer.” Brakuran drawled, a sly smirk spreading across his face.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western"><em>Status window? </em>Skull thought to himself in confusion.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Seeing the blank look on the stuntman's face, Byakuran snickered lightly under his breath. “Just come over here.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Reluctantly, Skull crept his way over to the grinning man, his gloved hands clenching in nervousness. Once Skull stood before him, Byakuran held out his hand expectantly raising a single eyebrow in impatience. Skull really didn't want to give the guy his hand. <em>I mean come on, he's almost as bad as Checker Face...</em></p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">At the sight of Byakuran's mouth tightening in annoyance, Skull plonked his hand into the Guild Master's. Even through his thick leather gloves, Skull could feel the unnatural coolness of Byakuran's hands. The chill sent a light shiver up Skull's spine.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Once Byakuran got a hold of the stuntman's hand, his violet eyes locked on something on Skull's chest. But when he looked down, Skull couldn't find anything amiss, except- <em>Wow, this shirt really plunges doesn't it? I had better get a new one soon, no one needs to see my cleavage!</em></p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">A light blush of embarrassment crawled down Skull's pale neck as Byakuran kept staring at his exposed chest. Skull's shoulders rose, almost touching his ears as Byakuran squeezed his hand tighter.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“How interesting~”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull jumped as the heavy silence was broken by the smug Guild Master.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“You shouldn't be here Skull-Chan~. But I wonder how you got here. You couldn't have done it by yourself, judging by your stats. Oh, and before you ask, I can't send you back. There's something blocking me...” After another uncomfortably long squeeze, Byakuran finally let go of Skull's hand before turning to the group loitering in the back.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“I approve. He has some skills that will be useful to you in your missions. You know what to do, but before that,” Byakuran turned back to his desk and rifled around in the same drawer which he had pulled the marshmallows from. Only the man's spiky white hair could be seen bobbing above the surface of the large desk as he fished through the drawer. “Come on, where is it, where is it? I know its in here- Aha!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Crowing in triumph, Byakuran straigntened, holding a solver chain dangling from his hand. Shaking the chain slightly Byakuran continued, “As I was saying, you guys know what to do. Find him a suitable party, his skills are going to be <em>very </em>useful. I just know it.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">A shiver of revulsion wracked Skull's body as Byakuran slowly drew his tongue across his lower lip.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“This is going to get very interesting~” Byakuran smirked while tossing the chain lightly to Skull.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Fumbling to catch the thrown object, Skull's eyebrows furrowed slightly, the chain was heavier than he was expecting. Taking a closer look, Skull became even more confused than he was before. Attached to the chain as a pendant was a clear pacifier bound in a portion of the chain, as if someone was trying to keep something trapped inside of it...</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western"><em>Eh? Does he think I'm a baby? </em>Skull thought, slightly offended.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“What is this for? I think I'm a little old for pacifiers...” Skull ventured, brows furrowing in a mix of confusion and irritation.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Byakuran snickered and replied, “Just a little gift from me to you, Skull-Chan. It'll give you a little stat boost~”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Something about Byakuran's sly smile unsettled something in Skull's chest. But he couldn't afford to piss someone that powerful off. He had no allies. Suddenly, it hit him. He wouldn't ever get back home would he? If someone as powerful as a Guild Master couldn't do it? Then who could?</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull was startled out of his depressive stupor by a heavy weight settling over his shoulders. Looking up, Skull was met with the sympathetic eyes of Han. With a reassuring squeeze to his shoulder, Han led Skull out of the Guild Master's office and back to the common area.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">As soon as they were out of earshot of the Guild Master's office, the group burst into cheers, Ly patting Skull on the back so hard that it rocked him on his feet. “The Guild Master approved you Skull! Let's get you registered with the guild!” At the sight of Skull's morose expression, Ly toned down his enthusiasm. “You do wanna join, right?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull thought about his options. If he didn't join Millefiore, he would be free, with nothing chaining him down. He would be able to search wherever he wanted for a way home on his own time. He could also avoid Byakuran. That guy gave Skull a bad feeling. On the other hand, if he did join, he would have a guaranteed income, powerful allies, access to guild resources, and no tax passing between towns. Plus the group that he had met seemed pretty nice.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">After a minute of deliberation, the rest of the party watching in captive silence, Skull came to a decision. A beaming smile stretched across Skull's face, the purple lipstick on his lips only making it seem wider.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The stuntman's beaming grin seemed to be so bright that the party squinted their eyes and raised a hand to shield themselves from the power of Skull's happiness.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Once the party had recovered from their temporary blindness, Han chuckled and clapped Skull on the shoulder. “Alright! Now that that's settled, let's get you registered!”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. You're a wizard, Skull</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“let's get you registered!” Han slung a muscled arm around Skull's shoulders and guided him to the second door behind the reception desk. “Alright everyone before we go in, any guesses on his attribute?” Han asked over his shoulder to the rest of the party. </p><p>Attribute? I keep hearing that but no one's told be what it means...</p><p>A chorus of thoughtful hums echoed off of the hardwood floors. “Well, I think that we can rule out cloud aspect, I mean, he's not a grumpy aloof bastard like Lief is... And they're suuuper rare!” Aline's statement was met with various noises of agreement.</p><p>“W-well, he doesn't get angry like Haru-chan, s-so maybe not storm?” Skull barely caught the mumbled question from behind him. </p><p>“Wow! She must really like you Skull! Lilith doesn't talk to strangers at all!” Ly ran up to lean himself against Skull's free side. “It is strange though, I don't know why all of us want you in our party so much when we don't even know your aspect yet...” Ly shook his head from side to side to clear his mind of any negative thoughts. “No offence of course Skull-Chan! Maybe it's because you're so cut- Agh!”</p><p>Ly was cut off by an armoured fist appearing out of seemingly nowhere to wack him on the back of the head. </p><p>“Seriously you lech?! I leave you alone for five minutes and you're already harassing our newest party member, huh? Absolutely disgusting.” Haru scoffed, one hand patting the top of Lilith's head.</p><p>“Ah, Haru-Chan! Did you get us rooms at the inn?” Aline asked, totally ignoring the whining Ly. </p><p>Haru straightened and planted her hands on her hips triumphantly. “Hahahaha! Who do you think I am? Of course I did! Helga also threw in free breakfast as well, you know, since we saved her son from those rabid tree-wolves the other day!”</p><p>Skull interjected before another conversation could begin, unable to go through another round of guessing without knowing what they were talking about. “Uh, what are aspects?”</p><p>Skull's question silenced the group immediately. The deafening quiet caused Skull's shoulders to creep up to his ears in embarrassment at the party's combined stares. </p><p>The awkard silence was interrupted by Han smacking his palm against his forehead. “Oh my gods, I'm so sorry Skull. Guild Leader said that you're from a land that doesn't have aspects, right?”</p><p>“Wait what-?”</p><p>Han bulldozed over Haru's incredulous outburst. “Here's a quick rundown, but Lilith has a book that goes into far more detail than I can.” Lilith nodded with a shy smile. “So first there's lightning, aka me, that focuses more on defensive spells and stats. So basically a tank. With some lightning spells.” Han smiled and patted his hand against his silver chest plate, sending a resounding clang through the room. “Oh, and individual unique skills are rarely tied to your attribute, and are instead a result of your previous experiences in life and your personality!”</p><p>Haru stepped forward and proudly puffed her chest out. “I'm a storm! So that means I'm awesome at offensive force spells! I'm pretty nifty at wind spells too though so I'm the party's ranger! I'm not the best at close combat though, so I bind my spells to my arrows for some extra punch!”</p><p>“Yeah it also makes so a raging bitch...” Ly mumbled, rubbing a hand on his aching head, ignoring Haru's enraged sputtering. “I'm a rain Skull-Chan, so that means I can slow down an enemy enough for me to stab it where it really hurts, so I'm the party's rogue! I'm pretty kickass at water spells too ya'know. I can also tone down the group's blood lust if it gets too out of hand.”</p><p>Eh? Ranger, rogue, tank? This really is like an RPG isn't it?...</p><p>Skull's head spun at the overload of information. Sensing that the stuntman was getting overwhelmed, Ly clapped his hands together and took over the rest of the conversation. “So Lilith a sun, she can fix your owies. Aline's a mist, she can make it seem like you're tripping balls and are seeing things that aren't there, and Leif's a cloud. So he just beats people up real hard. And is an antisocial bastard.”</p><p>Aline gasped in protest and slapped Ly lightly on the shoulder. “Rude! I mean, you're not wrong but still, rude!” Aline stood back and crossed her arms under her chest. “There's still one more though, but we don't have one in our party since they're so rare. Sky.”</p><p>Han's arm around Skull's shoulder tightened at Aline's words. “Ahh, a sky. Skies harmonise with all of the other elements, giving them a home. I've never actually met one, since they're so rare, but I've heard that it's the best feeling in the world. Having a place to belong...”</p><p>In unison, the entire party let out a longing sigh. Skull felt a little out of place in the midst of the party's melancholy.</p><p>“Right enough of that! No use acting all mopey, we're here to welcome a new member after all!” Han exclaimed.</p><p>Haru took the lead, pushing open the door behind the receptionist's desk after waving a cheery hello to Mira. “You got it boss-man! Let's go Skull!” </p><p>The party trooped through the door and into a surprisingly spacious room lined with shelves packed to the brim with all kinds of wondrous crystals. In the centre of the room stood an enormous white crystal ball on an ornate wrought iron stand.</p><p>“Hello there!” </p><p>A voice rung out from the seemingly empty room, startling Skull so bad that he jumped almost a full foot off of the ground. A mound of scrolls on top of the single desk in the room shifted to reveal tired looking young man. Though what drew Skull's attention wasn't the bags under his eyes that were so deep Skull could probably pack up the entirety of then circus in them, but his pointed ears poking out from his curly ginger hair. </p><p>An elf!</p><p>Skull had played enough games to know one when he saw one!</p><p>“Is this the new recruit?” The elf slowly straightened in the chair from his slump over the desk with a mighty yawn. “Well, welcome to the Millefiore guild Mr. Skull!” He stood up from his seat and grabbed a blank card from the shelf behind him before walking up to the party. “If you could put your hand on the diviner, It will activate your status window then I can transcribe you a guild membership card. Your first one is free, but if you lose it, then it will be five silvers for another one.” He warned.</p><p>Status window? It really is like an R- you know what, I'm not going to say it. I've accepted my fate.</p><p>Han lifted his arm from around Skull's shoulders and gave him a small push forward. “Go on!”</p><p>Standing before the diviner, Skull felt oddly nervous. It wouldn't hurt would it? But looking back at the party's barely contained excitement, Skull swallowed his fear and laid his palm on the smooth surface of the crystal, clenching his eyes tightly shut.</p><p>A tingling warmth spread from his palm and up his arm before a soft chime sounded in his ears, startling his eyes back open. Skull wasn't expecting to see a screen straight out of a video game right before his eyes. </p><p>Multiple shocked gasps prompted Skull to look back at the rest of the party behind him, only to see their mouths hanging open in shock. “W-what's wrong? Is it bad or something?” Skull asked anxiously. </p><p>Aline took a slow step forward pausing slightly before throwing herself at Skull in some sort of cross between a tackle and a hug. “I can't believe it! Skull-Chan, you're a cloud!” </p><p>Skull turned back to the diviner, manoeuvring with some difficulty around Aline's octopus like hug. Leaning around his screen, he saw that the diviner was now glowing a bright purple. “Huh.” Skull said to himself.</p><p>Aline leant back and exclaimed. “What do you mean, 'huh'? Cloud is the rarest aspect after Sky! And one of the most powerful! This is a huge deal! You'll be the twentieth cloud in the whole guild! And there's thousands of us!” Aline suddenly let out another gasp, her eyes widening to the size of dinner plates. “With you in our party as a cloud, we could probably rise in the party rankings!”</p><p>Aline's point was met with murmurs of agreement from the rest of the party. Before Ly stepped cleared his throat.</p><p>“Uh guys... But what about Leif, that guy's pretty territorial as it is, let alone with another cloud around...” </p><p>Aline gulped and slowly stepped back from Skull, raising one slender hand to scratch at her cheek. “R-right. Dibs not telling Leif!” </p><p>Skull took his hand off of the diviner, slowly backing away from the arguing party. I guess I'll have to find a different group then. I don't want to be the one to tear them apart, they seem like nice people...</p><p>Skull's retreat was cut off by a strong hand clasping onto his shoulder. Eh? But the all of the party was on the other side of the room... That meant... </p><p>Skull slowly peeked over his shoulder to meet glaring steel grey eyes, a glowing ring of purple surrounding the iris that Skull could have sworn wasn't there before. The hand on Skull's shoulder drew him back into the other cloud's strong chest before Leif's arms wound around Skull's torso, fingers clenching into the cloak that he had draped over Skull's shoulders before, cutting off his chances of escaping. </p><p>The sudden appearance of the other cloud shocked the group into silence. After a few seconds, Han spoke up, a barely perceptible wobble in his voice. “Well, I guess that settles it then welcome to the Moon Raker party Skull! Now can you read out loud what's on your status screen please? Poor Ignis here has been waiting to fill out your guild card!”</p><p>Skull looked over to the side to see the elf- Ignis waiting with some kind of stylus hovering over the surface of the blank guild card. Feeling faintly embarrassed at wasting the elf's time, Skull raised a hand and rubbed the back of his neck. “Right.”</p><p>Skull gently patted Lief's arms to signal that he wanted to leave, and with a reluctant huff, the other cloud released him. Skull then turned back to his screen and read out the contents from top to bottom. </p><p>“Uh, It says that I'm level one, My aspect is cloud, profession and title blank, Health is 5127-” </p><p>Skull was cut off by yet another disbelieving gasp from the party. Skull nervously looked back over his shoulder and asked. “Um, is that bad? Is it too low for me to join your party?” </p><p>Han picked up his jaw from the floor and said. “No! It's the opposite actually! That's one of the highest stat levels I've ever seen! My HP is 543, and Lilith's is 98. If the rest of your stats and skills are like this, then you've got to be the one of the world's strongest. Go on, keep reading, we won't interrupt until you're finished.” </p><p>The end of Han's statement resonated with something deep inside of Skull's chest. A feeling that he hadn't felt since he saw that rainbow in the shop window...</p><p>Shaking his head to dispel any dark thoughts, Skull turned back to his status screen and continued reading. “Mana 9861, passive skill- the immortal stuntman- dodge rates of enemy attacks are increased by 200%. Passive Skill- The one that death hates- Any action using the element of darkness is increased by 200%.  Attack skill- Shinigami's scythe- conjure a scythe of pure darkness to slice enemies asunder. Unique Skill- Commune. Uh, that last one doesn't have a description.”</p><p>Looking closer at the glowing blue screen, Skull noticed that there was a huge gap between the bottom of the screen and his skills. Was there something missing? “Wait a second...” Skull caught sight of something written at the bottom of the blank space in fine print. “Target has not met conditions for growth?” Skull mumbled under his breath. It was probably nothing, Skull probably just had to level up or something. At least that's what it was like in the JRPGs that Skull had previously played. </p><p>“Uh, guys, how do I close it?” Skull asked over his shoulder, snapping the group out of their stupor.</p><p>“O-oh right! Just say 'status close'. And if you want to open it again, say 'status open'.” Haru said, still looking slightly dazed. </p><p>Nodding to himself, Skull said out loud, “Status Close!” Skull watching in satisfaction as his status screen winked out of existence.</p><p>The stuntman felt a hand come down onto his shoulder prompting him to look back at the group. Ly lightly shook him by the shoulder and asked, “Remember when Old Han said that individual skills are based on people's past experiences before awakening?” </p><p>Skull nodded, confused at where this was going.</p><p>Ly nodded sagely. “Well then, what in the actual fuck were you doing before you came here to get such scary skill names!? I mean, come on! The one who death hates, Shinigami's scythe?”</p><p>Oh no... Are they going to kick me out after all? I mean it does sound majorly sketchy... Skull thought nervously to himself.</p><p>“That's fucking awesome!” </p><p>Eh?</p><p>“There's no way that we won't get at least gold rank with skills like that! Not to mention those monster stats!” Ly's proclamation was met with an agreeing cheer from the rest of the party.</p><p>Skull sighed with relief before tentatively asking, “Ly? What do you mean gold rank?”.</p><p>Ly's face split with a bright grin as he leaned closer to the stuntman. “Gold is a party ranking, young grasshopper. Right now, we're at silver rank which is pretty much in the middle of the rankings. So you've got coal, iron, steel, copper, silver, gold, platinum, and diamond. The higher you go, the more perks you get! Like less sucky missions and nice rooms at the guild halls!”</p><p>Han nodded along and patted Skull on his free shoulder. “We were never able to complete the last test for gold rank, but once you get levelled up, then I'm sure we'll be able to do it! The higher the rank is, the harder the tests are. In Millefiore, there's only one diamond ranked party! They're called the funeral wreaths.”</p><p>Aline bounced forwards, so full of energy that it seemed like she was vibrating in place. “Speaking of levelling, why don't we go and pick Skull-Chan's first mission?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Come and scream at me on twitter! </p><p>https://twitter.com/Dirkapitation1</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Where Wolf? There Wolf!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have no self control and wrote another chapter... I have no life lolol</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">“Not so fast you lot!” Ignis' voice rung out, interrupting the party'd jubilant cheers. “Did you forget the reason why you came down here in the first place? Just give me another minute and I'll have your guild card done Mr Skull.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Ignis picked his stylus back up and turned back to his work. Thin wisps of smoke curled into the air from where the stylus made contact with the silver surface of the card, tiny blue sparks being thrown up every couple of seconds.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">After a couple of minutes, Ignis sat back up, running a hand through his coppery curls with a satisfied sigh. Ignis picked up the card and blew a thin layer of dust off of the surface. The elf then carefully picked his way around the piles of books littering the floor around his desk before coming to a stop before the party.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Welcome to the Millefiore guild Mr Skull! Officially this time.” Ignis held out the guild card with both hands, the gentle smile on his face making the dusting of freckles across his cheeks all the more prominent.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull gingerly took the card with the accompaniment of the party's cheers, hands shaking slightly in his leather gloves. Skull brought the card closer to his face to observe the finer details. Carved in beautiful cursive across the gleaming silver surface was, 'Skull- Cloud. Moon Raker. Silver Rank. Millefiore.” The sight of his name on the guild card really hit home.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western"><em>This is really happening isn't it? </em>Skull thought to himself, slightly giddy. <em>Well, there's no use moping about it, might as well get used to it... </em></p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull let a blinding smile spread across his face. “Thank you Ignis.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">A faint flush spread across the elf's cheeks, as he brought up a hand to scratch at his curls. “Oh it's no problem at all Mr Skull! I'm only doing my job!” Ignis coughed lightly into his fist, face drawing into a stern frown. “Speaking of doing our jobs, you lot had better keep Mr Skull safe! He is a new recruit after all!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The party nodded solemnly.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western"><em>Eh? </em>Skull was confused. Back home, the only people who truly liked him was his family at the circus. Any outsiders took one look at his (Fucking incredible, of he does say so himself) makeup and toss slurs about his sexuality at him. <em>But here, everyone's being really nice to me... They didn't have to get me registered with them, I wonder why... </em></p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull was startled out of his inner musings with a yelp by Haru taking his arm and clinging to it. Her grip was so strong that Skull couldn't even hope to break free. “Come on Skull, let's go pick a mission!” She then preceded to drag him back through the door and back to Mira's reception desk.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Hello again!” Mira said with a pleasant smile, not at all fazed by Haru tugging Skull along like a rag doll. “Oh, is that a guild card I see, Skull-San?” She asked, hiding a giggle behind a slender hand.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Ly crept up behind the two, throwing his arm around Skull's shoulders. People in this world were really touchy, weren't they? “Hello again fair maiden.” He said with a sly smirk and a wink. “You come here often?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull held back a snort at the man's terrible flirting.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Haru smacked Ly on the arm and hissed, “She works here you idiot! You see her every week!” She then turned back to the beastman and leant against the counter. “Hey Mira! You wouldn't happen to have any iron or bronze level missions would you? Skull here just got registered!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">By now the rest of the party had caught up with the trio, sans Lief, who had somehow managed to disappear into thin air once again.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“You're in luck, actually. We recently had a fresh batch of requests from the village Pavloia come in, there's been a lot of monster sightings recently. More than usual that is, we think that a dungeon might have spawned near by, so be careful out there!” Mira reached underneath the counter top and pulled out a thick stack of papers. “Here you go, take your pick!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Han reached over Skull and picked up the papers before reading them aloud to the rest of the party. “OK, so we've got four different requests for goblins,”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Aline took the goblin requests out of Han's hands and put them back on the counter. “Absolutely not. They might be low level, but goblins are nasty!” She turned to Skull and clasped his hands between hers. “Skull-Chan, no matter what you do, try to avoid goblins at all costs! Last time they tore off my robe and left me in my underwear!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull grimaced and involuntarily clutched at his borrowed cloak, hyper-aware of the ripped shirt underneath.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Oh yeah!” Haru grinned. “That reminds me, I got you some new clothes while I was out booking us a room! I'll show you when we get back!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull gave a small cheer and lightly hugged the storm user. “Thanks Haru! I can finally give this back!” Skull was excited to return the cloak since the other cloud was much taller than him, it had been a pain to walk without tripping over the edges of the cloak.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Haru patted Skull lightly on the back and stepped back to give Skull a quick one over. “I don't know, you look pretty cute in oversized clothes. Like a tiny mouse!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull scrunched up his nose at Haru's words. “Cute? I'm not cute! I am darkness, I am the night! I am the immortal stuntman who death hates!” Skull exclaimed indiginantly.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Haru hummed and patted Skull's fluffy purple hair. “Exactly. Cute.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Before Skull could go on another tirade, Han cleared his throat and light shook the papers in the air. “If you two are done, I'd like to get this done before nightfall. And yes Skull, you are cute.” Han ignored Skull's sputters and continued reading out their options. “So, we've got slimes, ogres, cyclopses, tree wolves, and hell-boars. What do you think?” He directed the question to the group at large.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Immediately, the party came to a unanimous decision. “Tree wolves!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Han nodded and plucked a single sheet of paper from the stack before returning the rest to Mira. “I agree, could you explain why we chose tree wolves to Skull while I get this sorted out with Mira?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Aline grinned slyly and tugged Lilith to the front of the group from her hiding spot behind Han's large form. “Why don't you explain Lilith? You haven't spoken this whole time, don't be shy! Skull's a part of out group now!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">An incredible red flush spread across Lilith's entire face, from the tips of her ears to down her neck. Lilith turned back to Aline and tugged at the front of the Mist's robes, whispering protests so quiet that Skull struggled to hear.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Aline pretended not to hear her protests by whistling loudly, drowning out the tiny girl's pleas. After a solid minute of one sided 'arguing' Lilith drooped and reluctantly stood in front of Skull. “U-um. We chose Tree Wolves, because they're easy to kill, and only run in small packs. Hell-boars would move too fast for a level one, C-cyclopses and Ogres would be too overwhelming for a level one. They're b-big. And Slimes are... Slimy.” She finished with a shiver of revulsion, before running back to her hiding spot behind Han, who had just finished straightening out the details with Mira.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>I'm not that scary am I? </em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Han stepped back from the counter, and faced the rest of the party. “OK! Lets head back to Helga's inn and get some rest! We've all had a long day.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">With no further preamble, the party left the guild hall and travelled down the much less crowded streets. Looking around, Skull noted that the market from earlier had ended. The once bustling stalls completely empty. Though it did make sense since the sun was just beginning to dip towards the horizon, casting rich orange light across the lazy streets.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">After a few minutes of walking, the group came to a stop outside of a non descript medieval looking building. A wooden sign depicting a little green man in a pointy hat in cracking paint swayed slightly in the refreshing breeze. 'The Grinning Goblin' was emblazoned in green beneath the painted goblin.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Stepping forward, Ly did the honours of pushing open the heavy wooden door. The inside of the inn was rowdy, with large groups of adventurers sharing pints of alcohol and generally having a good time. Han made a beeline towards the counter, where a portly lady stood cleaning empty mugs with a cloth.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The rest of the party followed behind Han, albeit at a slower pace. Ly leaned over and whispered in Skull's ear once Han was out of earshot, “Old Han's got a massive crush on Helga. Aww look at him blushing! Isn't it adorable?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Looking closer, Skull could indeed see that the tips of the lightning's ears were red. Skull grinned slightly. It was cute.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">While they were catching up to Han, Skull's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates when a barmaid wearing the lowest cut top that Skull had ever seen sauntered past, carrying a tray of tankards. Ly waggled his eyebrows at Skull. “Hey, like what you see- OW! What the hell Haru?!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Haru shook out her hand to dispel the sting of whacking Ly on the back of the head. “Seriously? You're asking me why I hit you? When you ogle everything with a pulse!?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Ly scoffed and shot back. “Oi, I saw you staring at her tits as well you know. You're not innocent either.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Haru reddened so much that she matched the red accents on her leather armour. “You shut the hell up you perv! I'm not taking this from you when-”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull tuned out the rest of the argument. He'd only been around them for les than a day, but he could tell where the argument would go. Aline giggled from her place behind Skull and said. “You're really starting to fit in around here if you can tune out those two's arguments Skull-Chan!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck before the sound of heavy footsteps drew his attention to Han's return. “Right! I've got our keys! This one's for you ladies, and this one's for us! Each room has three beds in it. Good night everyone!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull scrambled to keep up with Han's longer strides. “Uh Han? Why are there only three beds? What about Leif?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Ly scoffed and threw an arm around Skull's shoulders (Again, this was becoming a thing wasn't it?) “Don't worry about that weirdo, Skull! He's probably gone to nest in the trees or somewhere equally as batshit insane. I swear that guy sleeps in the weirdest of places!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull decided not to question it, he'd questioned his own sanity enough for the day, thanks.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Finally, the trio reached their room. It was a small homely place with three wooden single beds done up with soft white cotton sheets and pillows. Sitting on one of the beds was a leather satchel. After a couple of seconds of confused staring, Skull remembered that Haru had said that she had bought him some new clothes earlier and eagerly searched through the loot.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Pulling out the bag's contents, Skull was slightly shocked to see what Haru had picked for him. It was almost a carbon copy of the archer's leather armour, but with purple accents instead of red.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">A sudden voice over Skull's shoulder startled the cloud into jumping almost a foot off of the bed. “Wow! That looks exactly like Haru's armour! Ugh, I should have been the one to go clothes shopping, I could have picked something much better!” Ly demonstrated by pointing down to his black cut off jacket and blue shirt. “Me and you have to go clothes shopping after this mission my dude! Welp, nighty night!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Now that Ly had mentioned it, he could feel the adrenaline from the wild events of the day wearing off. He was so tired that he felt like he had weights attached to his eyelids. Heavy fatigue plagued his bones, making his limbs feel like limp noodles. It made sense though, he did have one hell of a day...</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Against his will, Skull felt his eyelids slowly drift shut, soothed to sleep by the faint chatter of Han and Ly in the background,</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">----------------------------</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The next day found the party stood outside of the entrance of the forest surrounding the small village of Pavlovia. Skull was decked out in his new black and purple leather armour, which was surprisingly comfortable. The butter soft glide of the leather invoked an intense feeling of nostalgia, as it reminded him of his biking suit back at the circus. One thing that he would forever miss would be the roar of the crowd...</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull shook his head to clear his mind of any longing for his old world. <em>There's no use feeling sorry for myself! I've just got to make the most out of what I have. This literally can't be any worse than living on the streets, and I survived that, so this should be a piece of cake!</em></p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Hey Haru?” Skull called, “Thanks for the armour! It's a lot like what I used to wear back at home and it fits perfectly!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Haru tilted her head back with a smug grin. “Hahaha, of course it fits! I am the master of fashion after all.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull couldn't help but laugh along with her. He was in a good mood that morning.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Once Haru had caught her breath again, she continued, “I chose this sort of armour for you, since it's light and easy to move in but still gives you some decent protection. Y'know, since your attack skill uses a scythe, and you've got to be able to move and twist a lot with those.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull thought it over and quickly realised that she was right. “Wow, I didn't even think of that, thanks Haru!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Han stepped between Skull and Haru before they could devolve into another round of shared maniacal laughter, shaking his head in fond exasperation. “Come on guys, we've got to get moving if we want to find the Tree Wolves and defeat them before dark.” Han turned to Skull, a serious look on his face. “And you <em>really</em> don't want to be out after dark Skull, that's when the demons prowl.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The rest of the party shuddered in almost complete sync at the mention of the word 'demon', an out of character blaze of hatred twisting their expressions into one of absolute disgust, even the normally sweet and shy Lilith. For some reason, the glint in their eyes sent a shiver down Skull's spine before the moment was broken by Aline shoving the others towards the tree line.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“You heard the boss, let's get moving!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">With no further preamble, the party marched into the forest.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Immediately, Skull detected a shift in the atmosphere, it felt darker, more dangerous. It almost felt like a snake had coiled itself around his neck and had it's fangs bared against his throat. The once bright morning sunlight was blocked by the thick canopy of leaves above, leaving only just enough light to see. Beneath the must of rotting leaves, the faint, but undeniable scent of blood hung in the air.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“U-uh, guys? Is it just me, or does it feel really creepy around here?” Skull stuttered, thrown off by the intense heaviness in the air.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Han patted his shoulder in sympathy and said “Don't worry Skull, it's not just you. These woods have always been home to some real nasty folks.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Ugh, yeah. You're doing better than me on my first mission here Skull-Chan!” Aline chirped before winding her arms around Skull's. “Here, stay close to me, I'll protect you oh sweet damsel!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull snorted before lightly shoving her off, Aline's high giggles swallowed by the sea of trees around them. A sudden thought popped into Skull's head as he looked at the other members of the party, realising that there was one missing. “Wait a second, where's Leif? I wanted to return his cloak to him!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">A faint rustling of leaves behind him was the only warning that Skull got before a now familiar strong chest pressed against his back. Skull startled and spun around, meeting Leif's steel grey eyes. The other cloud's soulless stare sent a shiver of existential fear down Skull's spine. Swallowing his anxiety, Skull dug through the leather satchel that Haru had left him and held out Leif's folded cloak with both hands, shoulders bunched up around his ears.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">There was no change in Leif's expression at all, only the same monotone blankness as usual as he slowly reached out a hand towards Skull.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The stuntman couldn't help but flinch at the sight of that hand inching towards him. It brought up bad memories that he would much rather forget. The other cloud paused at the sight of Skull's fear, then changed the direction of which he reached out his hand. As it got closer, Skull involuntarily screwed his eyes shut in preparation for pain, only to have them fly open in shock at the gentle strokes to his fluffy hair.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">After a few seconds of bewildered silence, Leif took the folded cloak out of Skull's outstretched arms and disappeared back into the trees with a faint flutter of cloth.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Disbelieving silence hung in the air after the other cloud's departure, only broken by Ly's quiet “Holy shit.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">As if a spell had been broken, the rest of the party gasped in unison. “What the hell?! I've never seen that guy act like an actual human being with any decency before? Tell me, what did you use on him Skull? Black magic?!” Ly shouted frantically while shaking Skull by the shoulders.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Before Skull could reply, a small stone flew out of the bushes faster than what Skull's eyes could follow and beaned Ly hard in the side of the head.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“OW! Lief you bastard!” Ly shook his fist in the direction which the stone came from before turning back to Skull. “You see what I mean? A complete animal! Please promise me you won't become a mean cloud like that bastard, Skull!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Uhh...” Skull had no idea how to respond in the face of Ly's righteous anger.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Alright, alright, break it up Ly. You know we've got to get back before sun down and we're wasting daylight here.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western"><em>Han you big beautiful man, my saviour! </em>Skull thought with relief as Ly reluctantly stepped away, finally giving the cloud room to breathe.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Yeah, yeah, I know Old Han. Just gimme a sec.” Ly groused, rubbing a gloved hand over the reddened area where the stone hit.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Eh? What's he going to do?” Skull asked Haru.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Oh yeah! I forgot that you don't know Skull. It feels like you've been a part of our party for ages, but it's only been a day! Huh, weird...” Haru thought to herself for a few seconds, a puzzled expression on her face. “But anyway Skull, Ly's our resident tracker. He has a skill that lets him find targets. It's hard to explain, but you'll see what I mean in a second”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Ly took a couple of steps back towards the party and called out in a clear voice, “Detect Life!” Ly's eyes glowed a brilliant blue as countless shimmering threads of pure light materialised in the air around him, flowing gently through the air although there was no breeze at all.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Ly stood motionless for good thirty seconds before his hand shot out and plucked a cluster of three strands out of the air, seemingly at random. “I got'em, let's go crew!” Ly crowed in triumph as he shook his fist in the air.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Good job Ly, let's go bag ourselves some Tree Wolves!” Han grinned, bumping his fist lightly against the rain's. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. I Have The Power Of God And Anime On My Side</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ok, so there's a tiny bit of a trigger warning for this chapter. There's mentions of child abuse and some almost child abuse near the end. If you don't want to read it, then skip between the ***'s. Please stay safe and don't trigger yourselves!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">The party had been trekking through the woods following the strands that were clenched tightly in Ly's fist. It had already been around twenty minutes, and with every second that passed, the more uneasy Skull felt. His bright purple eyes scanned the treeline, hyper focussing on the slightest movement in the murky depths of the forest.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">A sudden slap to the back startled Skull out of his nervous trance. “Hey, don't be so nervous Skull-Chan! We wouldn't pick anything too difficult for your first mission! Besides, we're all here to stop anything from going wrong!” Aline chirped. Skull wondered how she could be so chipper when they were literally about to face off against a pack of monsters...</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The entire party paused when Ly stopped in his tracks, staring off through the trees. “We're here. They're just on the other side of those trees...” The rain's usually loud, cheery voice was subdued with an almost deadly edge.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Han nodded and carefully peered through the trees, humming thoughtfully to himself under his breath. After a few seconds of deliberation, Han stepped back and addressed the party as a whole. “OK, listen up. Our prey is three low level Tree Wolves. They're about thirty meters away. Aline, I want you to trap them in an illusion. Don't use all of your mana at once though. Tree wolves are week to fire, so save it for a fire spell. You too Lilith.” Han turned to back to the treeline and readied his shield. “Everyone, don't attack unless strictly necessary, except for you Skull. While they're trapped in Aline illusion, I want you to try out your attack skill. Don't worry if it's not strong enough to kill them yet, We'll be right behind you to support you.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">With that said, the rest of the party readied their weapons and slipped into their battle stances, awaiting Han's signal. Silently, Han raised a hand, eyes fixed to the wolves beyond the treeline. After a few tense seconds, Han brought his hand down.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Immediately, Aline called, “Beguiling mist!” and glowed an ephemeral indigo. Multiple yelps sounded from beyond the bushes.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The rest of the party, sans Lilith and Haru rushed through the bushes, and after taking a second to psych himself up, Skull followed. Running through the bushes, Skull found himself in a large clearing. It didn't take ling for Skull to spot their quarry, they did kind of stand out, after all.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The tree wolves stood about twenty meters away, facing away from the party, barking and snarling at thin air, hackles raised. <em>Ahh, so that's why they're called Tree Wolves... </em>Instead of the creatures' bodies being formed of flesh, instead their bodies were made out of twining roots and vines, a thin coating of moss creating the illusion of fur. An eerie ghostly green glow emanated from the wolves' chests where their heart should have been.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Now that he could see them, the stuntman's anxiety eased a little. They were nothing compared to the grotesque worm from the day before, and the party had defeated it with ease. (Though Skull was still scared shitless)</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Standing beside the stuntman, Han hefted his heavy shield and said, “Remember Skull, don't worry if your attack doesn't finish them off. If it doesn't kill them, we will. We just want to see what you can do.” Han flashed a reassuring smile, then lightly pushed Skull towards the snarling wolves.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull stumbled for a second before regaining his balance. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Skull then sprinted towards the distracted enemies. <em>It's now or never, I'll never survive in this world of monsters unless I learn to fight...</em></p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Once he had neared the wolves, Skull followed the others' example and called out the name of his skill with the intent of using it. “Shinigami's Scythe!” A deathly chill seeped out from the stuntman's core, seeping through his chest and down his arms before congealing into his hands. The intangible chill suddenly turned solid within his grip, and upon looking down Skull was shocked to find seething shadows writhing themselves into the shape of a pitch black scythe that seemed to suck the light from the clearing around them.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">A quiet 'ping' drew Skull's attention away from the monstrous scythe and back to the wolves. Out of the corner of his eye, Skull could see glowing blue text stating, “PASSIVE SKILL: THE ONE WHO DEATH HATES ACTIVATED” The chill seeping through his gloves suddenly doubled, and thin wisps of shadow curled around the snath of the scythe, and a faint violet glow emanated from the blade's edge.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Sensing the presence of a new, dark power behind them, the wolves turned back to snap at the cloud. <em>Ping</em>. “PASSIVE SKILL: THE IMMORTAL STUNTMAN ACTIVATED. The wolves' swift attacks slowed before Skull's very eyes. Compared to their movement speed a few seconds ago, it looked like they were moving through molasses. With barely any effort, the cloud dodge the three incoming attacks before blindly swinging his scythe at his attackers.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The Tree Wolves' piercing howls were silenced in an instant, replaced with a sick gurgle and the thick spray of some kind of warm, sticky substance that splattered across the cloud's face. A faint chime sounded in Skull's ears as he struggled to wipe off the clinging slime.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Frantic footsteps approached Skull from behind, prompting him to throw up his scythe in a sloppy guard across his torso, unable to see who it was due to the slime sealing his eyes shut. However, his worries were dashed once he heard Lilith's normally soft voice raised into a borderline shout. “Oh my gods Skull! Stay still i'm going to help you get that stuff off!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull felt the density of the air change in front of him as Lilith drew closer, before he felt the soft cloth of a handkerchief wipe away the cloying slime from his eyes. Once it was all cleared away, Skull gingerly opened his eyes, cringing at the onslaught of light from the bright sun, both the one in front of him's smile and the one overhead. Once his eyes had adjusted, Skull was met with the sight of the rest of the party sprinting towards him, jubilant smiles on their faces.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The sight of their approval drew Skull's purple painted mouth into a wide, beaming grin. The leaves high in one of the trees rustled slightly, and Skull caught sight of Leif crouched down on a thin branch, watching over him from above. An adrenaline filled laugh bubbled it's way out of the cloud's chest. “I-I actually did it!” Skull cheered to himself, looking back at the eviscerated corpses of the Tree Wolves. “Holy shit! I did that?” Skill shrieked to himself as he saw the state that he had left the monsters in.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Each of the wolves' had been cleanly decapitated by a single, clean strike to the neck. Woven grass tongues lolled lifelessly out of their once snarling mouths. Their eerie glowing green eyes dimmed, leaving behind hollow, lifeless husks. Thick, golden tree sap slowly dripped from their limp corpses.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western"><em>Oh thank god! I thought it was blood! </em>Skull thought to himself in relief, running his free hand over his now clean face.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull's inner musings were cut off by the quiet cry of “Status Check!”. A warm yellow light suffused warmth into his chilled skin, eliciting a soft sigh of relief from the cloud. Skull hadn't even realised that he was shivering until Lilith's magic warmed him up.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Now that the danger had passed, Skull's scythe dissipated into the in soft wisps of shadow. A split second later, Skull was almost tackled to the ground by an over enthusiastic Haru, Ly and Aline. “Holy shit that was so cool Skull! You cut their heads off in one, one! Strike! Where did you learn that from?” Ly asked, shooting off questions faster than Skull could answer them.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Haru whacked Ly over the back of the head. “Hey, give him some space you idiot!” She exclaimed from her position clinging onto his arm.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The overwhelming chatter persisted until Han grabbed the two by the back of their collars and hauled them off of Skull, giving Aline a warning look until she detached herself too. “Good job out there Skull.” Han smiled, patting Skull gently on the back. “That's a pretty powerful skill you've got there. Now the real question is, did you level up?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull jolted as he remembered the chime from earlier, after he defeated the monsters. Looking back to the Tree Wolves, now that he wasn't distracted by the decapitated heads littering the ground, Skull noticed a glowing blue screen hovering over the wolves' bodies.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Walkning Closer Skull was able to make out the words emblazoned across the screen.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">CONGRATULATIONS</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">YOU LEVELLED UP</p><p class="western">YOU LEVELLED UP</p><p class="western">YOU LEVELLED UP</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">XP TO NEXT LEVEL- 63</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Huh, I levelled up.” Skull said to the group at large.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Well? What did you get?” Aline crept up behind him, trying to look over his shoulder, even though no one else could see the screen except Skull.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull turned back to the screen and clicked the 'Next' button. The next page read:</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">LEVEL REWARDS</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">HP-5127-5276</p><p class="western">MP- 9861-10087</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">NEW SKILL UNLOCKED!</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">MUSCLE PROPAGATION- INCREASE PHYSICAL PROWESS BY 300% FOR 30 SECONDS- 5 MINUTE COOLDOWN</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">INVENTORY SPACE- 5-8</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">EXTRA REWARDS DEPOSITED IN INVENTORY</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">500 GOLD</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">IRON DAGGER</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">NECLACE OF MINOR STEALTH</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Uh, guys? How do I open my inventory? It says that my extra rewards are in there. Oh, and I got a new skill!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">For a couple of seconds, no one spoke, until- “Oh my gods I'm so sorry Skull! I can't believe we all forgot to tell you that! Just say open inventory out loud, or think it really hard. Just tap something to take it out.” Haru said, hands covering her blushing face.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull nodded in thanks before muttering “Open inventory”. The screen changed to display eight blue squares, five of them empty, the other three containing his rewards. Skull took out the dagger and the necklace, and after a moment's thought, decided not to mention the gold. If living in the circus had taught him anything (Aside from his sweet biking skills, Gods, he missed his bike) It was to always keep your money close to your chest, and pretend that you had less than you actually had. And judging by the price of room and board for one day in quite a nice inn for five people, one silver and three coppers, 500 gold was not a small sum.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">In a flash of blue light, the sheathed dagger and necklace appeared in Skull's gloved hands.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Oh, hey! That's a pretty good dagger for a low level reward, and that necklace could come in handy for ambushes!” Ly threw an arm around Skull's shoulders and steered him back towards the direction of the city. “Your first mission- Complete! I think that this calls for a round of drinks back at Helga's! Let's get a head start while Old Han and Haru disassemble the corpses. Tree wolf parts go for a lot, you know!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">-----------------------------------------------</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull flopped into his bed face first, completely exhausted from the festivities at the bar. He didn't understand how they could drink so much and not get drunk. Skull himself only had one tankard of ale, not wanting to get drunk in a world that he had only been in for just over a day. But that didn't stop the others from dragging him into their weird drinking games.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull's eyes slowly slid shut as he drifted off into blissful sleep.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">It only felt like Skull had been asleep for a few seconds when the door to his shared room hit the wall with a resounding 'bang'. Thinking that it was just the others coming back from their drinking spree, the cloud rolled back over and tried to go back to sleep.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Any plans that Skull had for a restful night were dashed when he felt hands grab him by the shoulders and violently shake. “Wake up Skull! We have to go! Now!” Han's booming voice echoed through the small room. “There's been a demon sighting right outside the city! If we don't go now who knows how much damage it could do!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Once the words fully registered in his brain, Skull jerked awake and bolted upright. “D-demons?” He asked incredulously.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Han removed his hands and stood back up, gathering various supplies that were littered around the room. “Yes, demons. Now come on Skull, we could use your explosive power in the fight against them.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“U-Uh, I don't know Han... I mean, I only turned level four earlier today, I don't think I'm a match for a demon...” Skull sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding eye contact with Han.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Han seized Skull's wrist in a tight, almost painful grip. “Skull, if you're going to be in this party, then you're going to kill demons.” Han spat, voice so low that it seemed like a growl.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The shock of hearing the normally easy-going party leader's voice filled with seething hatred caused Skull to look at Han's face.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">It wasn't pretty.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Han's lips were twisted, bearing his teeth in an almost snarl. An electric ring of green surrounded Han's normally soft brown eyes, making them glow in the darkness of the room. An almost tangible threatening aura emanated from Han's tightly coiled muscles.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Gulping heavily, Skull silently nodded, his fight or flight instinct in full effect.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">At Skull's affirmation, Han's tense form relaxed slightly with an almost imperceptible nod. Turning away from the cloud, Han spoke over his shoulder at the still trembling Skull. “Get ready, we leave in five minutes. Meet outside.” And with that, he left, slamming the wooden door so hard that it rattled the entire frame.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Holy shit...” Skull whimpered to himself, still feeling the lingering traces of fear from his encounter with Han. “I don't understand, he seemed so nice before...” Skull whispered to himself before shaking his head in denial. “No, no, he's just not himself. I mean, I'd be on edge too if there was a threat to the circus...”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Putting the unpleasant thoughts from his mind, Skull hurriedly packed his belongings into his bag and raced down the stairs to join the others outside. Upon arrival, Skull immediately noticed how on edge the party was. Similar to Han, they were all tense with an unnatural light to their eyes. Noticeably, Leif was missing yet again. Keeping his head down, Skull avoided making any eye contact with the party, not wanting to draw attention to himself lest he get snapped at again. He always hated it when people shouted at him...</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Right, now that everyone's here, the demon was spotted to the East, just outside of the city walls.” The tense silence was broken by Han's terse voice. “Our task is to find and eliminate it before it can do any harm to the city or anyone in it. The other guild parties currently in the city are searching to the north, south, and west, but as the highest rankers, we will be searching in the area where it was spotted last. Any questions?” A few beats of empty silence. “Good. Move out.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Almost in complete sync, the party turned on their heel and marched towards the city gates with terrifying purpose. Skull trailed along behind them, clutching his bag to his chest for some semblance of comfort.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">A good thirty minutes of trekking through the brush outside of the city walls yielded no results, not a sign of the demon anyway. Sighing, Ly stopped the party and murmured, “Well, I guess there's no choice. I hate doing this with demons, they always feel icky...” Ly squared his stance and called out, “Detect Life!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Just like earlier thousands of strands appeared and floated through the air around the rain, before he plucked a seemingly random one out of the air with a shudder. “Ugh, slimy...”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">With no further preamble, Ly marched forward, the rest of the party trailing behind.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">After about five minutes of walking, Skull began to pick up on faint sniffles coming from in front of them. <em>A child? All the way out here? </em>Skull thought to himself incredulously. <em>No, it can't be, no parent would let their child wonder this far out of the city, let alone with a demon about...</em></p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>***</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">But the further they walked, the louder the crying became, until Han reached into a wobbling bush and pulled out a tiny child.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Gyupaa!” it screeched, writhing in the tank's unforgiving grip, crying even harder.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull ran towards Han, fully intent on ripping the defenceless child out of his hands. <em>Can't he see that he's hurting it?! </em>As he got closer, Skull saw something that made him stop in his tracks. The shimmering cord clenched tightly in Ly's fist connected to the child's cow pattern clad chest.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Now that he was closer, he could pick up on a few details that betrayed the child as not being fully human. From his curly sizeable afro sprouted two cow horns, and a tiny tail lashed from side to side behind the child's cow print onesie.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>Th-That's a demon?...</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Found you, you piece of shit.” Han snarled in the demon's face, drops of spittle flying through the air and landing on the sobbing child's face. Switching his grip around the child's neck to his left hand, Han reared his right fist back in preparation for a brutal punch to the demon's face.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Seeing a grown, muscular man about to beat a defenceless child, unwanted memories rushed unbidden to the forefront of Skull's mind.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>'You useless piece of shit'</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>'Goddamn waste of space and air. Should've died like your fucking trash mother”</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“<em>I'm sorry daddy”</em></p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“<em>A fucking demon like you has no right to call me father'</em></p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">***</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Unable to watch any longer, Skull activated his passive skill, “Muscle propagation!” Skull moved towards Han and the child so fast that the lightning's fist seemed to move in slow motion. In the blink of an eye, Skull had reached the demon. Curling a gentle hand around the child's torso, Skull brought his other hand up to squeeze Han's wrist in an unforgiving grip, forcing him to let go of the child.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">As soon as the demon was safe in his grasp, Skull leaped as far away from the rest of the party as he could before spinning on his heel and sprinting as fast as he could away from the party. Just before Skull went beyond hearing distance, he heard Lilith hiss “<em>Fucking TRAITOR” </em>At Skull's retreating back.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western"><em>Shit shit shit shit SHIT! </em>Skull screamed internally. Why the actual HELL did he do that?! Now the only friends that Skull had in this world were out to eviscerate him and tear him limb from limb! And judging from how even the sweet Lilith had sounded in the end, even if he were to take the child back to them to be slaughtered, there's no way that he would escape alive!</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">But at the feeling of tiny trembling hands gripping the front of his armour, and a tear stained face pressing into his chest, Skull realised that was never even an option in the first place. There was no way that a child would be hurt like that with him around. Not like he wa- Skull violently shook his head and gripped his thumb in the palm of his hand to ground himself and push down the rising panic in his chest. A panic attack right now would get him killed.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull sprinted as fast as he could until the countdown for his skill ticked to zero. As soon as the skill wore off, Skull's limbs transfigured themselves into limp noodles, and the stuntman crashed to the ground, making sure to land on his ass so that the child wouldn't be squished beneath him. Once his heavy breathing had calmed down to an almost manageable level, Skull lifted a hand to gently pat the child's head.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Hey, are you OK down there?” Skull asked gently, making sure to speak softly to avoid any more tears.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The child sniffled and wiped his dripping snot on the sleeves of his onesie.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>Ew...</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“L-Lambo-San is fine mister. Lambo-San could have t-taken them! They'd have been no match for the mighty Lambo-San's ten year bazooka!” The child- Lambo- snivelled.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull chuckled lightly between heaving gasps. “Yeah, I'm sure you could-”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The sudden rustling of bushes to the pair's left caused Skull's breath to hitch in his throat, a sudden spike of panic almost stopping his heart. Tucking the child closer to his chest, Skull struggled to stand on his weak legs.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The appearance of long purple hair through the gaps in the trees made Skull's heart clench in his chest.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>Shit! Is that Leif?! There's no way I could beat him even with my full strength! What the hell am I going to do now?!</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull's eyes darted back and forth, frantically searching for an escape route, they had to leave before the other cloud could-</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Leafy-Nii!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>Eh?</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Don't call me that.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>Eh?!!</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Completely at a loss, Skull's noodle legs gave out on him again, sending him back to the mossy ground. Leif crouched before Skull and pointed to his neck, a single eyebrow raised in judgement.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>Eh? Neck? What does he mean, neck? OH! Necklace!</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Nodding to the other cloud in thanks, Skull opened his inventory and pulled out the stealth necklace, the plain silver chain feeling feather light in his shaking palms.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Here, wear this.” Skull turned back to Lambo and tugged the chain over the child's fluffy afro. “There, that will make it harder for people to find you!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Lambo tugged at the necklace with a blinding grin. “Yay! Present! Lambo-San loves presents!” After a couple of seconds of happy wiggling, Lambo turned back to Leif and tugged on the man's cloak. “Leafy-Nii! Lambo-San wants candy!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Leif gently pried the child's grasping hand from his clothes and ignored the ensuing cries at being denied. “Run as fast as you can west. Detect Life has a range.” With those parting words, Leif patted Skull's fluffy hair and turned to leave in the direction where Skull had run from.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull reached out and snagged the edge of Leif's cape before he could disappear. “W-wait! Where are you going? How do you know Lambo? Are you a demon too? Why should I go west?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Pausing, Leif turned back to Skull and nodded. “Lead away.” Leif said slowly, as if thinking hard about every word before he says it. “North is Demon Kingdom.” With those parting words, Leif walked back into the trees before disappearing all together. “Take him home.” Echoed through the deafening silence, accompanied only by the creaking of the trees and Skull's laboured breath.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>Welp, Demon Kingdom it is...</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yooooo, three chapters three days in a row my dudes...</p><p>What has my life become?</p><p>Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed the chapter!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. West Virginia, Country Roads</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A trigger warning for violence and gore in this chapter. If that's not your thing, then skip to the end of the ***'s.</p><p>This one's a little longer than my usual, I hope that it doesn't bother you! I just couldn't find a good place to cut it for the next chapter lol.</p><p>Other than that, I hope that you enjoy the chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>After a few hours of spamming his Muscle Propagation skill and sprinting as fast as he could, Skull was completely exhausted. His limbs felt like some unholy combination of noodles and jelly while his lungs felt like they were about to explode with the heaving breaths that he was taking.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>From his position slumped against a tree, Skull quickly scanned his surroundings, hyper aware of any miniscule movement in the area. Surely he had run far enough to escape Life Detect's range, right? At least he couldn't see any threads attached to his body, so that was probably a good sign.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once he had caught his breath (Mostly), Skull looked down at the child clasped tightly in his trembling arms. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Doesn't look like he's being traced either...Thank GOD. </span>
  </em>
  <span>The thought of finally being safe sapped what little adrenaline fuelled strength remained in his body, causing him to slowly slide down the tree to sit on the grassy ground.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull's eyes involuntarily drifted shut, the combination of lack of sleep, the mission he had earlier, and the marathon from hell taking its toll on his poor body-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lambo-San is hungry!” The screeching voice of the child right next to his ear startled Skull out of his half-asleep state with a heavy jolt, his barely calmed heart kicking back into overdrive.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull held back his weary groan and croaked, “Can Lambo wait 'till the morning, I've just had the longest day of my life... Skull trailed off, sleep pulling him back into it's cloying clutches.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But Lambo-San's hungry NOW! Lambo-San wants grape candy! Lambo-San wants to go home! Lambo-San wants to see Tsuna-Nii!” Lambo burst into tears, tiny fists raining light punches down on Skull's leather clad chest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In the face of a crying child, Skull had no idea what to do. The only experience that he had with children was the kids in the audience at the circus. Panicking slightly, Skull debated what he should do. There was no way that he was moving anytime soon, not after his crazy dash through the woods, and he didn't trust a literal child with foraging for food in the wilderness. What if he accidentally poisoned himself out there?! Skull would never be able to forgive himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull laboriously lifted a limp hand to Lambo's curly afro </span>
  <em>
    <span>(Ow,ow ow ow!) </span>
  </em>
  <span>and gently rubbed between his horns. “If you wait until morning, I'll get you the biggest, most delicious breakfast you've ever seen! And I'll get you candy! How about that Lambo?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At the promise of food, Lambo's hysterical crying gradually turned into miserable sniffles. “You promise?” Lambo asked, peeking through the cow print mittens of his onesie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh my god. That is a literal baby. Who the hell let a literal baby wander alone outside of an enemy settlement?! Don't worry literal baby! Skull-Nii will take you home! And also have words with your parents!</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I promise.” Skull answered, choking back the urge to coo at the teary eyed Lambo.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A tiny wobbly smile stretched across Lambo's tear stained face. “Gyahaha! Go to sleep mysterious Nii-San! Lambo-San will keep watch! Lambo-San will protect you, nobody's a match for the mighty Lambo-San!” With one last loud declaration, Lambo crawled back into Skull's lap and sat with his back against Skull's stomach, little legs kicking in the air.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With no further interruptions, Skull's eyes finally drifted shut, sending into much needed sleep.</span>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Soft sunlight filtered through the leaves, leaving dappled spots of sunlight gently illuminating the grass below. A gentle gust of wind ruffled the leaves above, directing a shaft of sunlight directly into the slumbering stuntman's eyes below.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull shifted slightly, jostling the sleeping Lambo nestled against his chest. Violet eyes slowly cracked open, wincing at the bright, unforgiving light. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What a hell of a day... </span>
  </em>
  <span>Skull thought to himself, stretching his still arms, carefully avoiding waking the sleeping Lambo. Skull sat staring up at the canopy before the gravity of his situation fully sank in. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Holy Shit! I'm so fucking screwed! What the hell was I thinking?! Now the whole guild's going to come after me because I saved a demon! </span>
  </em>
  <span>Skull's wallowing was cut off by a sudden thought. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Wait, a demon?! Didn't the others say that they like to eat humans and kill people for fun?! What's going to happen to me when this little guy's family finds out that I have him?! Shiiiiii-</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is it time for breakfast yet?” Skull's mental breakdown was interrupted by Lambo sitting up in his lap, tiny fists rubbing the sleep from his eyes with a yawn. At the sight of the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Literal infant </span>
  </em>
  <span>on his lap, Skull nodded to himself, finding his resolve once again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Right, they were going to kill a child. I can't stay with a group that's Ok with killing children. Besides, Leif said that he was a demon too, and he's not that bad, aside from being a little moody and antisocial that is. Though if he had to listen to the party talking shit about his entire race then I can sort of understand. Though I wonder how he managed to hide it for so long...</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull shook his head to clear his thoughts. There was a hungry child that needed to be fed after all! “Right, Lambo, do you know where we are? Is there a village or city nearby?” Skull asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Eh? Doesn't Nii-San know?” Lambo asked incredulously before leaping off of Skull's lap and striking a dramatic pose. “Gyahahaha! Then Lambo-San will have to educate you! Just say Open Navigation!” Lambo's triumphant grin morphed into a petulant pout with his next statement, “Lambo-San's system hasn't been activated yet because Tsuna-Nii says that Lambo-San is too young. But Lambo-San's seen Octopus-Head do it loads of times!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Octopus-Head?...</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull dismissed the strange nickname, after all, it wasn't nearly the weirdest thing that he's heard. “Open Navigation!” A blue glowing map similar to his status screen winked into existence before his eyes. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Huh, it worked. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Looking closer, Skull saw that the majority of the area around him on the map was obscured by some sort of fog, the only cleared area showing specific features of the land being a straight line where he had run through the woods with Lambo. </span>
  <em>
    <span>While I'm at it, let's see how far I ran last night... </span>
  </em>
  <span>Skull placed two fingers on the map and pinched inwards to zoom out. Skull followed the cleared trail across the map to the city that he had fled from. “I ran FIFTY MILES?!” Skull screeched to himself. </span>
  <em>
    <span>How are my muscles not dead?!</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, Nii-San ran </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> fast! Everything was like, </span>
  <em>
    <span>whoosh</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” Lambo exclaimed, swiping his hand as fast as he could through the air to demonstrate how fast Skull was running.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That's one of the cutest things I've ever seen in my life...</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull felt tugging on his trousers and looked down to see Lambo staring up at him pleadingly. “Lambo-San is hungry! Nii-San promised Lambo-San breakfast and candy!” Lambo whined.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull laughed and ruffled Lambo's sizable afro. “I did promise that didn't I? Just give me a second Lambo, I'll check and see if there're any villages around where we can get some food.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lambo reluctantly released Skull's armour and stepped back, crossing his arms and mumbling impatiently under his breath.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sensing that he should hurry up before another breakdown occurs, Skull turned back to the map and zoomed out even further. Due to the fog obscuring the areas where Skull hadn't been yet, the stuntman couldn't find any indicators of anything nearby. </span>
  <em>
    <span>That can't be right, there's got to be at least something, given how fucking far I ran... </span>
  </em>
  <span>Skull avoided voicing his thoughts, not wanting to panic Lambo.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suddenly, a tiny icon to the north west caught Skull's attention. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Wait, what's that? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Skull zoomed in on the area, hoping to find a village, or even just an inn. Once the icon was large enough to see properly, Skull swallowed his yelp and quickly moved the map to hide it before realising that Lambo couldn't see his screen anyway. After checking that the boy hadn't noticed anything, Skull took a closer look at the icon that had spooked him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was a tiny rendition of a snarling dragon's head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That must be a boss area... Well, we had better stay far away from there! I'm not in the mood for any disembowelment today...</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Keeping the same magnification, Skull scrolled over the map, hoping to find a friendlier looking icon. Instead, all that he found was an alarming amount of monster icons littering the map, some dangerously close to where he had escaped with Lambo the night before.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a few minutes of fruitless searching, Skull finally came across an icon that didn't look like it would kill them on sight. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Well, that looks promising! </span>
  </em>
  <span>The icon depicted a small cluster of what looked to be houses, and it wasn't even that far away!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With a triumphant grin, Skull closed the map and scooped Lambo into his arms, the boy letting out a happy squeal at the attention. “Come on Lambo! Let's go get some food!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yay! Food!” Lambo cheered, throwing his arms in the air.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After about twenty minutes of walking, the two were finally approaching the icon on the map. While he was walking, Skull felt a tug on his sleeve, looking down, he saw Lambo staring up at him. “Hey, Nii-San, what's your name?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull barely resisted the urge to face palm. How could he be so stupid as to forget to tell the kid his name? “It's Skull, Lambo. Skull De Mort.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Skull-Nii!” Lambo shouted right next to his ear, almost rupturing his ear drum.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“OK Lambo, we're getting close to a human village now.” At Skull's words, Lambo started shivering in fear, no doubt traumatized from his last encounter with Skull's former party. “Hey, don't worry Lambo, you're still wearing that necklace I gave you right?” At Lambo's nod Skull continued, “It's a super special stealth necklace that makes people think that you're human! So don't worry about being discovered as long as you stick close to me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At Skull's words, Lambo looked down at the stealth necklace in wonder, tracing his stubby fingers over the silver chain.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It had been a while since the two had left the woods, and were now traversing through various fields of crops. </span>
  <em>
    <span>We've got to be getting close, people wouldn't live too far from their fields- Aha! There it is! </span>
  </em>
  <span>In the distance, just beyond the long stretch of potato field that they were walking through, stood a rickety wooden wall. It was much smaller than the wall surrounding the Millefiore guild, and not as well made either, it looked as if a strong gust of wind would topple it over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At the sight of their destination, Skull shifted Lambo in his arms so that he could look him in the eye. “OK Lambo, We're about to start our secret mission.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At the magic words, Lambo's eyes sparkled in excitement, a wide grin spreading across his face. “Secret mission? What secret mission?!” Lambo shouted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A super secret mission to gather supplies for our quest and trick the humans!” Skull grinned back, hiding a grimace at the feeling of his day old makeup beginning to crack. Speaking of makeup, his supply was running low, he'd have to find more soon. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> doesn't want to be walking around with a bare face...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Just leave it to Lambo-San, Skull-Nii! Lambo-San's the best at secret missions!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With no further preamble, the two continued their journey towards the gates, Lambo chanting secret mission under his breath the entire way.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It didn't take long for them to arrive at the gates and the guardsman on duty stepped forward, brandishing a low-quality spear in his trembling hands. “S-stop! State your business!” The guard looked like he was barely into his teens, barely taller than Skull (Which wasn't saying much).</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull wasn't too concerned about the pointy weapon aimed at his chest, compared to the Tree Wolves and the worm from hell, the guard barely tickled Skull's danger scale. Skull shifted Lambo so that he could hold him with one arm and held his guild card up with the other. “Hey there fellas! I just wanted to buy some food off of your local vendors.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At the sight of the Millefiore guild card, the guardsman's tense postures relaxed, an expression of giddy relief on his face. The boy lowered his spear to the ground and walked closer to Skull and Lambo. “Oh, you're from Millefiore! Welcome to Crotoa! Stay for as long as you like. Oh, and you mentioned buying food right? If you find the mayor's assistant in the town hall, they can find a job for you!” The young guard scratched his mousy brown hair underneath the steel helmet. “There's a group of bandits that have your name on it out there. They've been giving us a whole bunch of trouble, that's why I was a bit suspicious when you just walked up to the gates like that... But if you do take their bounty, We would be happy to assist you in any way we can!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The guards cheerfully walked back to the wooden gate and knocked seven times in a specific pattern. Like magic, the gates slowly creaked open. “Again, head to the mayor's hall if you want to pick up that bounty!” The guardsman waved, ushering Skull through the open gates.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Just as he crossed the threshold into the village, Skull heard a familiar chime before glowing blue text appeared in his vision.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>NEW AREA DISCOVERED- CROTOA VILLAGE</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>20XP REWARD</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Huh, how about that. Good to know that he could score some extra experience points from things other than killing enemies.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks man!” Skull called back as the gates closed behind him. Once he was sure they were sealed, Skull turned back to Lambo. “Hey, It looks like it worked! He didn't notice you at all!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lambo covered his mouth with his mitten clad hands, stifling his childish giggles.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once Lambo had calmed down some, Skull said a bit more seriously, “What do you think Lambo? Should I take the bounty or not? I mean, It can't hurt having extra funds, you never know what might happen on a quest!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lambo didn't even pause before replying with fervour, “Of course Skull-Nii should! Skull-Nii should go and kick everyone's butts like Tsuna-Nii!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Eh? Who's Tsuna, Lambo?” Skull asked in confusion. The stuntman thought that he had heard the boy mention that name before but he couldn't remember exactly when.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lambo planted his little fists on his hips and laughed, “Gyahaha! Tsuna-Nii is Lambo-San's Sky! And Lambo-San is one of Tsuna-Nii's guardians! Except Octopus-Head said that Lambo-San is too stupid to do a secret mission, so Lambo-San snuck out to prove that stupid Octopus-Head wrong!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Well, that explains why he was alone so far away from home...</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull decided not to even try and decipher 'Octopus-Head' and instead focus on- What the hell? A sky?! Didn't Han say that they were the rarest of the rare?! And that he had never even met one?! Holy shit! You go Lambo!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Your Tsuna-Nii sounds pretty awesome Lambo!” Skull ruffled Lambo's afro again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gyahahaha! But not as awesome as Lambo-San!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull snorted in amusement and jostled the boy playfully in his arms as he surveyed their surroundings. From what he could see, Crotoa looked exactly like your stereotypical RPG starter town, with one wide main road leading into the centre of the village made out of hard packed earth. Small wooden houses lined the street, washing lines filled with linen fluttering in the lazy breeze. Children chased each other in the streets, their joy-filled laughter echoing off of the buildings, joined by the low hum of people conversing deeper in the village.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At the sound of people talking, Skull's shoulders relaxed. From his experience travelling with the circus, a silent town was somewhere you really didn't want to be. Silence typically meant that someone was waiting to ambush you and rob you, or something even worse, so Skull was happy to hear signs of life.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you say, Lambo? Should we check it out?” Skull asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gyahaha! Let's go Skull-Nii!” Lambo vibrated with excitement from his spot in Skull's arms.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Right, first things first. Food. Can't have Lambo going hungry...</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As the two followed the road deeper into the village, the street gradually widened before opening up into a sizable town square. Littered throughout the square were various small stalls boasting various fresh produce and fresh baked goods, with the occasional trinket store.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Spying a promising confectionery stall, Skull swiftly walked over, keeping a firm hand on Lambo to stop him from wandering off. A busy marketplace was an easy place to lose a child. The portly elderly woman running the stall spotted Skull walking over and beckoned him closer with wrinkled hands.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hello there sweetie! What are you looking for this fine morning?” the elderly woman asked with a smile that crinkled the loose skin around her eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hi, Ma'am! What have you got for sale?” Skull asked. Lambo thankfully kept quiet, not drawing any attention to himself as he was too busy drooling at the delicious looking sweet treats on display. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Looks like the stealth necklace is doing its job...</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, I've got quite a good selection today! You're lucky that you came before breakfast rush otherwise most of it would have been gone! So from left to right, we've got custard tarts, croissants, jelly tarts, strawberry, blackberry, and raspberry, sugar buns, chocolate bread, banana bread, and good old brownies!” The old woman pointed at the plates one by one.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wow! You really do have a good selection!” Skull complimented, before whispering quietly to Lambo. “So, what do you want Lambo?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lambo squirmed in indecision before pointing to the strawberry tarts and whispering back, “It would have been better with grape jam...”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The elderly lady giggled behind a hand, “Oh stop it young man, you're making an old lady blush!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull grinned back, “Can't help it if it's true! And I'll take two strawberry tarts and two sugar buns please!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Right you are, young man!” The lady said cheerfully before bagging Skull's purchases in a brown paper bag. “Anything else young man?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull tapped a gloved finger against his chin in thought. He did promise Lambo candy, and he couldn't see anywhere else that would sell it. Oh well, no harm in asking. “Say, actually, do you happen to sell any candy? I can't see anywhere else that would.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The old lady grinned, showing off a set of slightly crooked white teeth, “As a matter of fact I do! I keep them back here away from the little kiddies sticky fingers, they can be so sneaky when they want to be!” The lady bent down to retrieve a large wooden bowl filled to the brim with colourful cloth bags of candy. “Take your pick, young man! I've got strawberry, melon, orange, lemon, cherry and grape!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lambo perked up at the word grape before turning back to Skull with pleading eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Score!</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Could I take three bags of grape and three of cherry for the road please Ma'am?” Skull asked, holding up three fingers. </span>
  <em>
    <span>That should be enough to bribe Lambo with until we cross the border into the Demon Kingdom at least. And enough to keep me happy as well! </span>
  </em>
  <span>Never let it be said that Skull didn't have the largest sweet-tooth known to man, though he didn't have enough money to really feed it back at the circus. Ah, It was good to be rich</span>
  <span>~!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The lady giggled and fished out six red and purple bags out of the bowl before dropping them into the paper bag with the other pastries. “That'll be seven irons then sweetie!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Seven Irons? Skull opened his inventory and hoped that the system gave out change, since he didn't think that the lady could give change for a full gold coin if she only charged in irons. It was twenty irons, to a copper, fifty irons to a silver, and one hundred silvers to a gold piece after all!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull thanked his lucky stars when the system deposited seven irons in his hand instead of all five hundred gold pieces. Skull really didn't need that kind of attention with a demon in his arms, or ever really.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The elderly lady had a twinkle in her eye when he turned back to her. “Oh, are you an adventurer sweetie? Oh, silly me, you've got an inventory so you have to be one! Good luck out there young man! Be safe!” She smiled as she received the money before handing over the bag of goodies.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull nodded back with a grateful smile before wandering off to find a secluded bench where Skull and Lambo could enjoy their breakfasts. It didn't take too long before he found the perfect spot. Setting down Lambo, Skull settled down next to the excited child before handing Lambo his strawberry tart before digging into his own sugar bun. It was a testament to how hungry the pair were when they ploughed through both of their pastries in less than a minute.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Both Skull and Lambo leaned back with a satisfied sigh, content with their full stomachs after a harrowing night. “How was that Lambo?” Skull asked the boy, wiping off a stray crumb from the demon's face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It was good! But it would've been better if it was grape flavour!” Lambo grinned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Great! Let's find the nearest inn Lambo, we're not going to stay there overnight though, you're going to stay in the room while I go and take care of those bandits and talk to the mayor.” Skull said, scooping Lambo back into his arms. The demon was deceptively light for how much pastry he put away mere seconds before.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lambo whined and squirmed in Skull's grasp, “But Lambo-San wanna go with Skull-Nii! Lambo-San wanna see Skull-Nii kick some bandit butt! It's gonna be boring!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull shook his head before lightly booping Lambo on the nose, silencing his whines. “Please Lambo, stay in the room please. It would make me very sad if you got hurt. I might even cry!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lambo gasped and squished Skull's cheeks between his tiny mittened hands, “You can't cry Skull-Nii! Lambo-San will stay! It'll still be boring though!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull hid his smile of triumph and wandered around the village in search of a suitable inn, stopping along the way to buy some sheets of paper, crayons, and a couple of toys to keep Lambo busy while Skull was away. After a while of searching, the pair finally came across a suitable looking inn called 'The Prancing Pony'.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After purchasing a room for the day for eight coppers, Skull left Lambo with his purchased toys and drawing materials along with the promise to be good and stay in the room before leaving for the town hall. (He also gave Lambo the iron dagger in his inventory just in case, but he didn't want to think about Lambo actually having to use it.)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was relatively easy finding the town hall, since it was taller than any other building in the village. Standing at three stories, the town hall towered over the rest of the village. After a quick ten minute walk, Skull arrived at the wooden doors of the town hall. The stuntman took a fortifying breath before he placed both hands on the doors and pushed them open.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The interior was surprisingly cosy, with multiple candles positioned around the small reception area, casting a soft golden glow over the hardwood floors. On the far wall above the stairs to the upper level hung a forest green flag with a black sickle crossed with an ear of corn. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Probably the village's flag...</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A light clearing of a throat drew Skull's attention to a pretty elf lady with silver hair sitting at a desk in the corner of the room. “How can I help you sir?” She asked with a professional smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull rubbed a hand against the back of his neck, embarrassed at being caught gawping at the town hall. “Oh, yeah, hi!” Skull approached the elf and drew out his guild card, “I heard about a bounty on some bandits outside of town, would you mind telling me more about it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At the sight of his guild card, the elf's impersonal smile softened into one of relief. “Oh, you're here about the bounty!” She bent over in her chair to open one of the many drawers of her desk and drew out a single piece of paper. “This lot has been giving us a lot of trouble! They've been raiding any trade wagons that have been travelling on the roads around here, so our trade has taken a big hit recently.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull took a closer look at the bounty poster and saw an artist's rendition of five burly mean-looking men, all bald with an eyepatch over their left eyes. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh my god! They all look like the same stereotypical bandit from an RPG. What, are they quintuplets? I know this isn't supposed to be funny, but this is hilarious! </span>
  </em>
  <span>Skull barely managed to suppress his snickers at the identical looking men until another detail on the poster caught his eye. A raven with a dagger in its talons.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The elf lady followed his line of sight and continued, “ah, I see you've spotted the symbol of the ruffian's guild. These men are indeed members, but they're fairly low level so they won't be missed. They should be wearing badges with this symbol on it, please bring these back as proof of completing the bounty. The reward will be fifteen silvers, and a favour from the mayor himself, within reason of course.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull contemplated his options, before nodding and tucking the bounty poster into one of the pouches on his belt. “I accept. Could you please tell me where I can find them?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The elf pulled out a parchment map from her seemingly bottomless drawers and pointed to a road just outside of the village. “This is where they usually ambush trade wagons. Please be careful out there sir!” She waved him off with a smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Just as quickly as he had entered, Skull left the village, waving at the old lady who sold him pastries and candy on the way past. Once he had gotten past the gates and the guardsman once again, Skull pulled up his map before contemplating his plan of attack.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He doesn't have the stealth necklace, since he left it with Lambo, or the iron dagger either, so that leaves him with his Shinigami's Scythe skill. Since stealth is out, and he doesn't know whether any of them have any ranged weapons or skills, he would have to get as close as he could without raising suspicion. Skull wasn't trained in any form of combat, so he would have to take them all out as quickly as possible before they started attacking him seriously. For extra safety, Skull should activate his muscle propagation skill as well.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull nodded to himself and closed his map, now sure of where he was supposed to go. Keeping his plan in mind, Skull walked casually down the road, keeping his eyes straight forward, and away from the sides of the roads. He needed to make them overly confident after all.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After about ten minutes of walking, Skull reached a dip in the road between two small hills. </span>
  <em>
    <span>The perfect spot for an ambush.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Skull heard the tell-tale sound of rustling bushes that he would have missed if he wasn't on high alert. In the blink of an eye, Skull was surrounded by the five bandits that he had seen on the poster. From what he could see, they all were holding melee weapons except for one. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ok Skull, don't panic, don't panic, you've got this under control! Don't think of them as human, think of them as monsters!</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The leader of the bald eye-patched bandits stepped forward threateningly, brandishing a short sword. “'And over all o' yer valuables if 'ya wanna live, Pansy Boy.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Pansy Boy? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Skull was reminded of the homophobic assholes back in Italy and felt an intense rage and the sudden urge to completely annihilate the group of bandits. The whining static in his ears gradually grew louder and louder until it drowned out the world around the cloud, and turned his vision completely red.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The leader strutted forwards, twirling his short sword in the air. “What'ya waitin' fer, Pansy Boy- Urghk?!” The bald bandit's slur was cut off by a sickening gurgle as he clutched at his slit throat, trying to stuff the gushing blood black into the grotesque flap off skin before collapsing to the dirt, body convulsing in his last death throes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Heavy silence hung in the air, the remaining four bandits staring at the cloud's glowing violet eyes in horror before readying their weapons and rushing at the raging cloud with a piercing battle cry.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The cloud spun his scythe in a deadly arc, severing three of the bandits in half at the waist, revelling in the wet </span>
  <em>
    <span>schlick</span>
  </em>
  <span> of the blood and guts of his enemies as they splattered to the earth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At the sight of his four teammates being brutally cut down with no mercy, the last remaining bandit turned tail and fled, straining his legs to get as far away from the cloud as possible. “W-what is that? I-it can't be human!” The bandit gasped between terrified breaths of air in hysterical disbelief.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The cloud watched the last surviving bandit's retreating back for a few seconds, allowing him to believe that he had escaped, before readying his scythe and flinging it after the retreating bandit.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The cloud didn't even need to look to know that the hit had landed, the wet gurgle and the two dull thumps of a body and a head hitting the ground told the cloud all that he needed to know. The cloud let his conjured scythe disperse into nothingness as he watched with satisfaction as the thirsty earth absorbed the spilled blood of the wayward bandits.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>***</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a few minutes of smug staring, the intense violet glow faded from the raging cloud's eyes, leaving behind Skull in his place, staring in horror at the corpses littering the road. Skull stared down at his gloved hands in disbelief. “I-I did this?” Despite the bloody carnage all around, Skull was relieved to find that there wasn't even a drop of blood on his armour. “B-but how? I don't even remember activating the skill”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull shook himself out of his stupor, “No, I shouldn't feel guilty! These guys were bandits! They killed people! They were bad guys!” This was a world where only the strong could survive. Skull shouldn't feel guilty for doing what it takes to survive, and if it helps out the innocent travellers traversing the roads, then all the better.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Feeling a little better with himself, Skull stooped over the felled bandits to pluck off their guild badges, fighting the urge to gag at the overwhelming stench of blood wafting up from the corpses. After tucking the badges away into a pouch on his belt, Skull turned to go back the way that he came, only to pause as a sudden thought hit him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I should probably check the bandits' camp if I can find it. They probably have some good loot!” Nodding to himself, Skull instead started towards the faint traces of smoke from a snuffed out campfire in the near distance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a few short minutes of trekking over the hill to the left, Skull came across a small abandoned campsite consisting of three humble tents and a campfire. By the snuffed out campfire sat three wooden chairs and a mound of leather boots and bags, most likely pilfered off of passing travellers, or taken from their corpses. Mentally apologising for touching the belongings of the dead, Skull rifled through the bags, pulling out anything of value and stuffing them in the biggest bag that he could find. There was a surprising amount of valuable items, Skull thought that they would have sold everything off as soon as they could, but the cloud ended up finding numerous coin purses (Which he would count later, he wanted to leave as soon as possible), expensive looking jewellery, a glass bottles containing suspicious looking liquid, and a few scrolls and fancy looking books.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now that he was out of danger, Skull noticed a small glowing blue icon of a gift box in the corner of his vision. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Eh? What's that? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Skull reached out a finger and pressed on the icon. Immediately, a familiar looking screen popped up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>CONGRATULATIONS!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>BANDIT LEADER (BOSS) DEFEATED</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>YOU LEVELLED UP!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>YOU LEVELLED UP!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>YOU LEVELLED UP!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>MILESTONE MET! (LEVEL 5)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>NEW SKILL UNLOCKED!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>PASSIVE SKILL- IMMORTAL BODY- HEALING RATE INCREASED BY 500%</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>LEVEL REWARDS</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>HP-5276 – 5482</span>
</p><p>
  <span>MP- 10082 – 10329</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>INVENTORY SPACE- 8 – 11</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>EXTRA REWARDS DEPOSITED IN INVENTORY</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>RANDOM ITEM BOX</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>SUPERIOR DRAUGHT OF HEALTH</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>SUPERIOR DRAUGHT OF MANA</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Immortal body? Now that sounded like a useful skill! Random item box? What was that? Before he could give into temptation and check out his new items, Skull shook his head and continued to gather anything valuable that he could find.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once Skull had packed everything up and was about to leave, he heard a faint shuffling and the clanging of metal from inside one of the tents. Skull tensed and quietly activated his Shinigami's Scythe Skill. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Was there another bandit in the group that the village wasn't aware about?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gripping the snath of his scythe tightly, Skull inched towards the tent flap, slowly reaching out a hand to grip at the fabric before throwing it harshly to the side and bringing his scythe up in a messy block. Giving the tent a quick scan, Skull was confused to find it empty, not a soul in sight. Skull was just about to check the other tents when the rustling noise sounded again, this time Skull knew that it was definitely in the tent with him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull brought his scythe back up in a guard, keeping his eyes peeled for the source of the noise.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Rustle.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There! A blanket balled up in the corner shifted slightly, rocking from side to side. Inching closer, Skull hooked the edge of the thin blanket on the butt of his scythe and tossed it out of the tent.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Ping. </span>
  </em>
  <span>CONDITIONS FOR THE UNIQUE SKILL- COMMUNE HAVE BEEN MET</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>ACTIVATE YES/NO</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>An octopus?</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Hey, I hope that you enjoyed the chapter, and if anyone caught the Lord of the Rings reference, please receive my virtual love!</p><p>Remember, Kudos and Comments keep me alive! </p><p>Thanks so much for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. The Forging of Bonds</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey! Sorry for the late update guys! I just started uni lol. Hopefully the updates will come faster now that everything's settled!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">A tiny red octopus around the height of Skull's forearm wriggled miserably in a small rusted iron cage on the floor of the tent.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“What the hell? An octopus? On dry land? How is that even supposed to work- You know what, I literally use a scythe made out of fucking shadows, so I'm not even going to question this.” Skull crouched down and held out a hand to the little critter, palm facing downwards. “Hey there little guy, or girl? I don't know what the hell I'm talking about, I'm sorry.”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The trembling octopus slowly and cautiously inched towards Skull's outstretched hand, keeping it's wary green eyes locked on the cloud's every move. Skull kept as still as he possibly could, not wanting to startle the obviously terrified creature.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">After a minute of carefully watching Skull's face for any sign of deceit, the tiny octopus finally close its eyes and leant its face against the cloud's gloved hand, a soft glubby coo escaping its beak.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Aww, aren't you adorable!” Skull gushed, an involuntary smile spreading across his face. “If I open this cage, do you promise not to bite me?” Skull asked, stroking a finger under the octopus' eye.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The little sea creature nodded frantically up and down.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Wow! You're smart too!” Skull gave the octopus one last pat on the head before leaning back to examine the cage. “OK, I think I can get this open, just gimme a sec...” The hinges on the door of the cage looked a little rusted, and judging by the way the metal was dipping, the rust was eating away at the iron underneath. Skull had taken care of his bike long enough to tell. The cage door would probably only need a good yank to bust them entirely.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“OK, brace yourself little guy!” Skull gripped one of the iron bars of the cage door and yanked backwards as hard as he could. Just as he predicted, the rusted hinges warped and snapped, the entire door coming with them.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Immediately, the octopus used its tentacles to pull itself forward and out of the cage to deposit itself in Skull's lap, before clambering up his chest to rest on his shoulder. The octopus let out another coo and nuzzled Skull's cheek.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull let out a giggle a couple of pitches too high that he would later deny making. “Aww, You're welcome little guy! Say, do you have anywhere you can go? Any family you want to see?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">At Skull's question, the octopus leant back from the cloud's face and shook its head, tears welling up in its eyes.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Oh no! Please don't cry!” Skull scooped up the little red octopus and squished it against his chest in an enthusiastic hug. “It's OK! Do you want to come with me instead?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The octopus buried its head further into Skull's chest and frantically nodded its head in affirmation.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull nodded back and patted the octopus on the head, “OK, OK, let's get out of here then-” Skull was cut off by two chimes from the system, drawing Skull's attention back to the still open skill window.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">CONDITIONS FOR THE UNIQUE SKILL: COMMUNE MET</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">ACTIVATE YES/NO</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Oh yeah, I forgot about that...” Skull mumbled to himself under his breath. The octopus tilted its head in confusion and tried to follow Skull's gaze, but could see nothing except the empty interior of the tent.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Uh, I have a question little guy.” Skull scratched the back of his neck awkwardly with his free hand. “I've got a skill called commune but I don't know what it does. Could maybe try it on you? You can say no if you want to!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">At the word 'commune', the octopus' eyes widened, sparkling eagerly in the meagre lighting inside the tent before nodding so fast that it looked painful.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull's eyebrows rose so high up his forehead that they almost disappeared into his hairline. “Eh? Are you sure? I really don't know what it does-” Skull was forced to stop talking by a soft tentacle planting itself on his lips.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The octopus nodded its head again, slower this time, making sure that Skull was watching its every move, a combination of eagerness and determination glinting in its luminous green eyes.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Uh, OK then, If you insist...” Skull twisted to the side and tapped the 'yes' option. Almost instantly, a burst of warmth bloomed in Skull's chest, forming an almost thread like connection to the tiny octopus. Skull could feel an odd sense of elation that he could tell wasn't his in the back of his mind as the sea critter wiggled happily in his arms.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>Ping.</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">CONGRATULATIONS! COMMUNE SUCCESSFUL!</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">FAMILIAR ACQUIRED: OODAKO</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">FAMILIAR SPECIFIC INFORMATION AVAILABLE</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Oodako?” Skull asked, looking down at the octopus in question. Skull guessed from the happy flailing of tentacles that 'Oodako' was the octopus' name.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Well, that makes things easier!” Skull gently patted Oodako on the head again, “I can finally stop calling you octopus!” Skull cheered, Oodako letting out a soft chirp in response to the cloud's happiness.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">With one last scan over the system notification, Skull decided that he would check the familiar information later. Skull wasn't too familiar with kids, but he knew that if you left them alone for too long, then they would eventually get into trouble, especially a kid like Lambo. Besides, the sooner that Skull gets Lambo back home, the better. This 'Tsuna-Nii' was probably worried out of his mind, judging from how Lambo had previously described him.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">With a new found determination, Skull lifted Oodako to his shoulder and climbed to his feet. Hoisting the heavy bag of valuables that he had pilfered from the bandits, Skull pondered his options. “Hmm... What do you think Oodako? I could probably carry this back to the inn, but I don't wanna flash my money at people, that's just asking for trouble!” Skull was hit by a sudden epiphany. “Oh! Wait a second! I have an inventory! I can't believe I forgot about that! OK, how much space have I got left...?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull opened his inventory screen and clicked his tongue at the results. “Oh, yeah, I forgot that the level rewards go in there too.” Skull absent-mindedly scratched a finger under Oodako's chin(?) as he thought of what he should do, until a sudden epiphany hit. “Wait! Will the bag count as one item?”” Skull clicked his fingers in realisation.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull heaved the heavy bag off of his shoulders and plopped it back on the ground. “Ok, here goes!” Skull placed a hand on the bag and thought as hard as he could about putting it in his inventory. In a burst of blue light, the bag disappeared.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Huh? Did it work? Oodako, did it work?” He asked, earning an eight shouldered shrug in return. Holding his breath at the suspense, Skull turned back to his inventory screen, praying to whoever was listening that he hadn't just lost all of his stuff. “Yes! It worked! Oodako, it worked!” Skull grinned in elation, grabbing the octopus by the sides and spinning him in circles, accompanied by Oodako's happy chirps.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Once the two had calmed down, Skull placed Oodako back on his shoulder. “Right! Back to the town! There's someone that you should meet, he's going to be travelling with us to the demon kingdom after all!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">At the mention of the demon kingdom, Oodako perked up and wiggled happily on Skull's shoulder.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Oh? Are you from the demon realm Oodako?” The stuntman asked, he didn't think that he saw anything about the octopus being a demon on his status screen, but he would have to check later to be sure.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Oodako silently shook his head in reply, still happily wriggling.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Shaking his head in bemusement, Skull decided not to pursue the issue any further for the sake of his own sanity, and began the short journey back to the village, the comfortable silence on the walk back filled with teasing pokes and swipes.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">After what felt like seconds, the two had reached the inn that Skull had left Lambo in earlier. Pausing before the heavy wooden door, Skull took a deep breath, inwardly preparing himself for whatever carnage an unsupervised five year old could wreak on an enclosed space for an hour. Once he had steeled himself as much as he could, the stuntman slowly pushed open the door, keeping his eyes clenched shut in denial.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Skull-Nii! Look what Lambo-San made!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Lambo's slightly squeaky voice caused Skull to snap his eyes open. <em>Huh, what do you know? I guess bribery is the best way to deal with children after all...</em></p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The small bedroom was remarkably intact, with the only carnage in sight being the mess of papers and crayons littered across the hardwood floors. Scrambling to his feet, Lambo scaled the edges of his nest of papers and scurried over to cling to Skull's leg.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Look! Look!” Lambo cried, thrusting the crumpled papers in his hands up at relieved stuntman.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull grinned and crouched down to the demon's level, reaching a gloved hand out to gently take the drawings from the child. “Oh yeah? Let's see your masterpieces then Lambo!” Skull grinned, leafing through the suspiciously stained drawings, trying not to squint his eyes at the indecipherable squiggles of colour.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western"><em>What is that? A purple lopsided cat? I think that's a house- I think? I think those rainbow blobs are people? What in the actual hecc is going on here?! I hope that red is jam, and not blood... </em>Skull winced at the slight pang and tugging sensation in his chest at the mention of rainbows. <em>Huh. I thought that I'd completed the set when I joined Han's party. I'd say that we were a pretty rainbowy group...</em></p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull's inner musings were cut off by Lambo's excited yelling. “Look Skull-Nii! It's you!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>The purple lopsided cat...</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“That's Tsuna-Nii's Vongola castle!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>Eh? Castle? I guess that Lambo's 'Tsuna-Nii' is pretty important... I hope that he doesn't kill me or something when I bring Lambo back home.</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“And this one's Tsuna-Nii and all of his guardians! Lambo-San drew Octopus-Head with a stupid face 'cause he's stupid! Tsuna-Nii says that when Lambo-San's old enough, Lambo-San's gonna be Tsuna-Nii's Lightning guardian!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">There it was again. That weird tugging sensation when Lambo said guardian...</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“This one is the best one! It's me assassinating that stupid Reborn!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western"><em>Oh, so that red stuff is bloo- ASSASSINATION?! </em>Skull gingerly handed the drawings back to the proudly grinning demon. “A-assassination?”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Lambo clutched the papers in his tiny mittened hands. “Un! Father told Lambo-San to assassinate stupid Reborn so that Lambo-San can become the best demon in the world! He said not to come back home until Lambo-San's done it!” Lambo hugged the drawings to his chest, crinkling the edges under his tightening grip, pout firmly on his face. “But that stupid Reborn won't let Lambo-san kill him!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western"><em>Ex-fucking-scuse me? Did this literal infant just say that his dad sent him to assassinate someone? </em>Skull felt the familiar anger that he felt with the group of bandits begin to creep through his veins, pulling his painted lips into a half snarl.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">A tiny hand against the stuntman's knee jolted him out of his rising rage. “But it's OK! Tsuna-Nii said that Lambo-San can stay with Mama until Lambo-San does it! And Tsuna-Nii's really nice! And Mama's food is really yummy!” Lambo beamed, winding his stubby arms around Skull's leather clad leg and pressing his squishy body against it in a hug.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">The gentle warmth against Skull's leg cooled the red-hot rage surging through his veins, bringing a hesitant smile to his face. Skull brought up a gloved hand to gently pet the tiny demon's fluffy head between his horns. “Aww, that's nice kid!” Skull said, the last of the anger ebbing away.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Lambo buried his face deeper into Skull's leg. “You're weird, Skull-Nii. You feel like Hibari, but you also feel like Tsuna-Nii... It's nice...”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull let the demon hug his leg for a few minutes longer before gently patting him on the tiny back, signalling him to let go. “Hey, Lambo! I've got someone for you to meet!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Lambo leaned back with a comical look of confusion on his face. “Eh? But Skull-Nii is the only one that came in! Lambo-San counted!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull grinned and raised his hand to his shoulder to let Oodako clamber across to rest on his hand. “See? Lambo, this is Oodako. Oodako, this is Lambo. Say hi!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">At Skull's cheerful prodding, Oodako lifted a single tentacle in a jaunty wave. When Skull didn't hear any noises from Lambo, the stuntman turned back to look at the demon, brow pinched in concern. <em>Does he not like octopi?</em></p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">However, at the sight of the demon's childish wonder, the lingering feeling of worry dissipated. Lambo's eyes were opened as wide as they possibly could, and practically sparked in the dim lighting of the inn. The child's mouth hung open, practically touching the ground.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Oodako preened under the attention, red tentacles writhing with pleasure.</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">“Wow! Is that an real familiar?!” Lambo practically vibrated in place with excitement. “Only Tsuna-Nii's guardians and stupid Reborn and the other ones have those!” Lambo crowded as close as he could to take a better look at the tiny octopus. “What does he do? Reborn's one can turn into anything! He's a chameleon!”</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">
  <em>Eh? I don't think that chameleons can turn into- wait! That's a good point! I should check Oodako's familiar page! I'll do it before we go to sleep later.</em>
</p><p class="western"> </p><p class="western">Skull gave Lambo's head one last pat before rising to his feet, brining Oodako back to his shoulder. A quick non-verbal command saw the carnage littering the floor safely stored in Skull's inventory. “Right! Are you ready to go home, Lambo?”</p><p class="western"> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Pls, Pls Comment! Interaction keeps me alive!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Wolves and Wolves and Wolves, Oh My!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Are you ready to go home, Lambo?” Skull grinned at the demon, planting his hands on his leather clad hips.</p><p>Lambo nodded wordlessly, too happy at the prospect of seeing his Tsuna-Nii again to string together comprehensible words. The demon was so excited that he almost vibrated in place, floofy black hair bouncing along with him.</p><p>Skull’s already wide grin stretched even further at the sight of the child’s excitement. Skull winced at the uncomfortable feeling of his lipstick cracking and dug through one of the small pouches on his belt before pulling out a battered tube of purple lipstick. Skull twisted the end of the tube and winced at the amount left. <em> Ugh, great. This isn’t going to last long, and all of the make up I’ve seen sold here are either sheer, or red. Sheer wouldn’t cover up anything, and I’d rather die before I wear red, It clashes too much with my hair! Not to mention their miserable shades of foundation and concealer! There isn’t anything that will match my ghost skin! That settles it! I’m going to have to ask Lambo’s Tsuna-Nii if they’ve got any respectable makeup in the demon kingdom. </em>Skull resolved to himself, tracing a finger over the peeling sticky bandages attached to his face. He REALLY doesn’t want to go bare faced, especially around people he doesn’t know…</p><p>Skull shook his head violently to clear his head of any unpleasant thoughts and memories. This was supposed to be about making Lambo happy and getting him home! After a quick last glance at the room to check that they hadn’t left anything behind, Skull scooped Lambo up into his arms, grinning at the childish squeal that he let out. “Let’s go, Kiddo!” Skull spun Lambo around in quick circles, feeling Oodako’s tentacles clench tighter around his neck to avoid getting flung from his perch on Skull’s shoulder.</p><p>Skull flung open the door and strolled jauntily out into the narrow hallway before halting in his tracks. “Oh my gods! I can’t believe I forgot to turn in the bounty on those bandits!” Skull turned to look the demon in the eyes. “I’m sorry, Lambo. Is it OK if we quickly go and turn in the bounty from the quest I just completed?” Skull asked, mentally crossing his fingers in hope that Lambo wouldn’t throw a tantrum at the unexpected delay.</p><p>“That’s OK. Lambo-San trusts Skull-Nii.” Lambo said with a beaming smile. “Skull-Nii saved Lambo-San from the mean humans!”</p><p>Skull felt a tsunami of emotion well in his chest and his cheeks redden under his pale makeup at Lambo’s innocent words and cuddled the child closer to his chest with a supressed squeal. <em> Oh my gods? That was the cutest thing I’ve ever heard? How do I even? </em>“Hey, Lambo? Do you want some grape candy?”</p><p>Skull felt Lambo’s tiny form squirm in his arms. “Yes! Yes! Yes! Lambo-San wants candy!”</p><p>With his cheeks still flushed, Skull reached into a different pouch on his belt and drew out three pieces of grape candy. <em> As I thought, bribery is the best strategy. Especially for adorable cinnamon buns like Lambo! </em>With Lambo happily munching on candy, Skull set out towards the town hall. Hopefully, it wouldn’t take too long to cash in.</p><p>After a short five minute walk, the trio arrived at the town hall, and after Skull had double checked that the stealth necklace was firmly in place around Lambo’s neck, Skull pushed open the heavy wooden doors with one hand. <em> Wow, I swear that was harder to open the last time I was here… </em></p><p>The same pretty elf lady from before was sat at the reception desk in the corner steadily working her way through a sizeable stack of paperwork. <em> Ugh. Paperwork. I don’t envy her, poor woman… </em>Skull inwardly winced. The lady looked up from her work at the sound of the doors shutting with a heavy thump. “Oh, hello there. How did you fare with the bandits, sir? It’s alright if you didn’t manage to complete the bounty, the last party from Millefiore last month didn’t manage to complete it either.” She placed her quill back in the ink pot. “I wonder how they’re doing now, they were pretty injured from their bout with the bandit leader, but I doubt that would put down their archer and rogue. They seemed so lively when they argued with each other!”</p><p>
  <em> Millefiore… Archer and rogue fighting… Why does that sound familiar… </em>
</p><p>“So, what can I help you with, Sir?” The elf’s chime like voice startled Skull from his inner musings.</p><p>“O-Oh yeah! I’m here to collect the bounty, please!” Skull exclaimed, shifting Lambo to the crook of his elbow so that he could dig through the many pockets on his belt in search of the bandits’ pins. Skull grew more flustered with every second that he couldn’t find the pins, embarrassed flush rising to his cheeks. <em> Having this many pockets is so useful, but so confusing! Where in the hell did I put them?! </em>A soft tap to his cheek had Skull halting in his fumbling search. Looking over at his shoulder, Skull was met with the sight of Oodako extending a single red tentacle to point at a bulging pocket to the left of his belt.</p><p>A quick check revealed the pin that he was looking for. “Thanks buddy!” Skull whispered fondly, lightly scratching Oodako beneath his beak. Oodako released a soft glubby purr at the attention, wiggling his tentacles in pleasure.</p><p>A light tug to his sleeve had Skull looking back down at Lambo, who had a faint pout on his lips. Lambo stretched out his tiny mittened hands to grab at the hand that was petting Oodako, before pulling it down to rest on his head between his stubby horns.</p><p>After checking to see that Oodako was OK, Skull gently patted Lambo’s head, marvelling at the bounciness of the demon’s afro, Oodako chittering lightly in slightly disappointed amusement. Once Lambo was appeased, Skull reached into his belt and drew out the pins, handing them to the receptionist.</p><p>The elf’s icy blue eyes widened in surprise at the blood speckled pins. “W-Well done sir! This might sound rude, but I wasn’t expecting you to be able to defeat the bandits, especially their leader. The leader, although being low on the food chain of the Ruffians’ Guild, was at least level 25, even a fully kitted out party from Millefiore wasn’t able to clear the bounty…” The lady shook her head lightly to clear her shock. “But that doesn’t matter now. Just a moment, Sir. I shall gather your reward.” The elf pulled out a tiny key attached to a cord around her neck and unlocked the bottom drawer of her desk. She reached in and pulled out a heavy looking sack that clinked along with her every slightest movement.</p><p>“Here you are, Sir. Fifteen silvers, as promised. Now, may I ask what your chosen favour from the mayor is?” The receptionist clasped her hands behind her back and waited politely for Skull’s answer.</p><p><em> Oh yeah! I forgot about that bit of the reward! Right, what do we need… </em> Skull looked down at both Lambo and Oodako in thought, thinking in silence until a sudden thought popped into his head. <em> Wait! I’m such an idiot! I didn’t buy any survival supplies! Or anything for Oodako! What do octopi even eat anyway? Welp, at least I know what I’m gonna ask for now… Oh yeah! I didn’t even check how far away the Demon kingdom was either! Will she notice if I open my map for a second? </em>Skull observed the receptionist closely for a couple of seconds before giving in to the burning curiosity building in his stomach.</p><p><em> Navigation open! </em> An increasingly familiar blue screen popped into existence before Skull’s eyes. <em> Ayy! It worked! Note to self: try out all the commands I know in my head and see if it works! What was I doing again…? Right! Demon Kingdom! </em> Skull looked closer at the map and saw a blinking purple dot over a tiny looking settlement labelled Crotoa. <em> Well, looks like it’s accurate at least! </em> Skull then lifted his hand to try and subtly zoom out for a better view of the terrain surrounding the town. <em> Holy shit! The Demon Kingdom is right there! That’s like… less than a day’s walk! </em></p><p>Skull mentally closed the window, suppressing a satisfied grin at the prospect of less work. “My request is for food that an octopus can eat. As much as you can, please! Oh, and a day’s worth of supplies for an adult and a child please!” Skull grinned, Oodako’s surprised and pleased chirp ringing in his ear. <em> Might as well get as much food for Oodako as I can now since I don’t know when I’ll get the chance to get more. </em></p><p>The receptionist raised a single silver brow in shocked disbelief. “That’s all you’re asking for, Sir? The mayor is a man of considerable power, and you have just done the town of Crotoa a huge favour in getting rid of the bandits and securing the trade routes. Is this really your wish?”</p><p>Skull didn’t even have to think about his answer. “Yup! That’s it! I have no need for power or anything like that!” Skull grinned back</p><p>With a bemused nod, the receptionist pulled out a glimmering white crystal from her seemingly bottomless desk drawers, tapping lightly on its iridescent surface. Skull recoiled slightly in surprise when the crystal lit up, casting soft shimmering across the ground. The increasingly familiar ringing sound appeared in Skull’s ears at the sight of the rainbow, drowning out the elf’s soft murmurs into the crystal. The same tugging sensation that he felt when that creep Checkerface yeeted him into this world grew stronger in his chest.</p><p>Skull’s daze disappeared when the receptionist had finished speaking, setting the hefty crystal down on the wood of her desk with a meaty thump. “Everything has been arranged for you, Sir. You will find your bag of supplies waiting for you by the main gate. On behalf of the mayor and the people of Crotoa, I wish you a safe journey.” She said sincerely, dipping into a graceful bow.</p><p>Skull flushed hotly in embarrassment at the sight of the woman’s sincerity. “Yeah, great, thanks, you too!” He blurted out, words running together as he raised his free hand in a finger-gun towards the still bowing receptionist, backing away slowly towards the exit, Lambo snickering softly the entire way.</p><p>Skull relaxed at the sound of the heavy wooden doors banging shut behind him. “Oh, shut up you two…” Skull grumbled good naturedly at the two tiny giggling forms in his arms as he power-walked away from the town hall. Thankfully, the pink glow to Skull’s cheeks had receded by the time then trio reached the town gates.</p><p>“Hey there, Sir!” A young man’s voice rang out through the air. “We’ve got your supplies right here for you!” Skull caught sight of the same guard from before waving happily in his direction, a huge burlap sack the height of his waist at his feet.</p><p><em> Holy shit that was fast! It’s only a ten minute walk to the gates! </em>Skull smiled amicably back at the guard, speeding his walk up into a light jog until he came to a stop before the jubilant guard.</p><p>“Hey! I heard that you got rid of those bandits down the road! Nasty pieces of work they were. You’ve done us all a huge favour with taking care of them, so you’re always welcome to come back for a visit any time!” The guard bent down and hefted the sack into the air, grunting loudly with exertion. “Here… <em> Huff </em> … You… <em> Huff </em>… Go…!” The guardsman set the sack down at Skull’s feet with a heavy thump.  “Whew! That was heavy! Well, here you go, Sir! Have a safe journey!”</p><p>“Thanks man!” Skull smiled back and hefted the sack over his shoulder with barely any effort, the stunned guard watching in awe, jaw practically scraping the ground. The massive wooden gates creaked open with an ear splitting screech, revealing the vast open fields beyond. “Thanks again, man! See ‘ya!” Skull smiled over his shoulder at the still stunned guard as he strolled out of the open gate.</p><p>“I Think that went well, what do you think, guys?” Skull asked once they were out of earshot from anyone who might have been listening in.</p><p>“Skull-Nii is awesome! And really strong! But not as strong as Lambo-San!” Lambo bragged, tiny hands planted on his hips, Oodako chirping in the background.</p><p>“Of course not, Lambo! Lambo is the strongest! Right Oodako?” Skull grinned.</p><p>Oodako visibly suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and reluctantly nodded his head, crossing two tentacles behind his back.</p><p>Skull couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculous situation. Just a few days ago, he was doing stunts on his precious motorcycle for the world to see as the world’s greatest stuntman. Now he was carrying a demon and talking to a fucking octopus. What even was his life anymore? Skull shook his head and forcefully pushed the thoughts from his head. There was no use reminiscing over the past, that would only drive him insane. Skull would have to focus on the present if he wanted to survive in this world.</p><p>“Skull-Nii? Why are you laughing?” Lambo asked, head tilted adorably to the side.</p><p>“It’s nothing, Lambo. Right! Gimme a sec, I’m gonna put this in my inventory.” Skull set both the sack and Lambo down on the dusty road before opening his inventory, scanning his available space and the items that he had stashed away. <em> Hmm, looks like I’ve got three spaces out of eleven left. That’s a little too small for my liking. Is there anything that I can get rid of or merge into one? Let’s see what I’ve got… Iron dagger. Useful in a pinch, let’s keep that separate in case I need it quickly. My money- Oh yeah, I should add the reward money to that! </em></p><p>Skull lifted the clinking coin purse out of his belt pouch and mentally commanded it to join the money in his inventory and watched in satisfaction as the numbers climbed. <em> Nice! That brings me up to 500 gold, 14 silvers, and a shit ton of coppers and irons. I’m practically rich! I’m gonna save it though, never know when you’ve gotta use money to get out of a sticky situation after all! And something tells me that I’m gonna have to bribe someone real soon… Huh, where did that come from? </em>Skull shook his head to clear the intrusive thought.</p><p><em> Huh, that was weird, anyway, moving on! Oh yeah! I forgot about the potions I got from levelling up that one time! I should probably leave these separate like the dagger, they’ll be useful in a pinch- Oh yeah! That reminds me, I should check my stat screen! I probably used up some mana and stamina from fighting those dicks earlier. </em> Skull exited out of his inventory and pulled up his stat window. <em> Let’s see, let’s see… HP 5482/5482, nice! Guess I didn’t get hurt at all then! MP 10069/10087, wow! That barely went down at all! Looks like I don’t have to worry about running out of Mana at least! Ok, what about stamina- Eh? Where’s the stamina stat? Do I not have one or something? That’s weird, most RPGs have that right? Welp, never mind! I should finish up organising so we can get to the Demon Kingdom! </em></p><p>Skull switched back to his inventory and continued sifting through. <em> Right, where was I… Oh yeah! Lambo’s drawings. Don’t think I can merge that with anything, and I don’t want to get rid of his drawings. They’re so fricking cute! </em> Skull actively repressed the memory of the drawing of graphic assassination. <em> Right, next is that massive bag of jewellery and stuff I took from the bandits, can’t merge that either… Guess I’m stuck with three free spaces then… OK, last one- Random item box? I forgot about this one! I really wanna open it! Screw it, let’s do it! </em></p><p>Skull pulled the random item box from his inventory, practically vibrating in anticipation like a child on Christmas Eve. The box was shaped like a stereotypical video game treasure chest and was about 40cm wide. But what was intriguing about the box was its colour. It was as black as night, so dark that it seemed to suck in the sunlight like a black hole. “What do you think’s gonna be in it, guys?” Skull asked, lightly shaking the box, hearing nothing rattling inside. Oodako reached out a tentacle from his perch on Skull’s shoulder and lightly tapped the top of the</p><p>“Lambo-San doesn’t know, Skull-Nii! Has Skull-Nii checked the item info thingy?” Lambo asked, looking at the pitch-black box with wide excited eyes.</p><p>“Eh? Item info?” A robotic ping echoed through the air, accompanied by a blue screen appearing over the box in Skull’s hands. “Woah!” Skull almost dropped the box in surprise. “Huh, guess that’s a new one. Thanks Lambo!” Skull smiled brightly at the demon, not noticing the faint flush spreading across Lambo’s cheeks as he squirmed at the praise. “Right then, let’s see what we’ve got!” Skull turned back to the box and read off of the screen.</p><p>“Contains one random darkness aspect item from grade F to Mythical. What do you think, should we open it?” Skull asked his captive audience, receiving twin captivated nods in return. “Well then here goes!” Skull unclasped the two clasps holding the box shut and slowly creaked the lid open, only to almost be blinded by a sudden flash of bright white light. Once the spots had cleared from his vision, Skull eagerly looked back into the box, excited grin firmly in place.</p><p>“Eh?”</p><p>Skull tilted his head in confusion before reaching into the box and lifting out the item. “Is this… My helmet?” Clasped tightly Skull's hands, was his motorcycle helmet, albeit slightly altered so that it fit in flawlessly with the medieval setting of Skull’s current world. “What the- It is?!”</p><p>A light poke to Skull’s cheek drew his gaze to a worried looking Oodako, tentacles wringing themselves together in concern over the Cloud’s frantic state.</p><p>“Aww, I’m sorry buddy! I didn’t mean to make you worry! I’m fine!”</p><p>Skull was not fine. <em> What in the actual hell is this?! Is it that creepy-ass Checkerface?! I bet it is, bastard. How long has he been stalking me?! OK, Ok, Calm down Skull! Nothing you can do about it right now. You can always find a way back home later and kick his ass then! </em>Once he had calmed his racing thoughts, Skull checked the item info, curious as to whether the system had included anything about him in the description.</p><p>“Come on Skull-Nii! What does it say! What does it do?” Lambo tugged hard on Skull’s sleeve, whining petulantly, Oodako nodding along in agreement.</p><p>“Oh, right! It says ‘Shinigami’s death mask-‘Death mask? It’s a helmet though?” Skull raised a confused eyebrow and continued reading. “’Shinigami’s death mask, aspect- darkness. Purifies the air of all toxins, reduces damage dealt to the head by 50%, Armour grade 32. Item level 7. Level’s with the user. Item grade- Legendary-‘Wait! Legendary?! Holy shi-shish kebabs!” Skull cried out, almost dropping the helmet in shock. Wasn’t Legendary one grade down from Mythical?! <em> That’s some insane luck! </em></p><p>Lambo jumped up and down in place, holding out his arms towards Skull, an almost manic grin on his face. “Can Lambo-San hold it please, Skull-Nii! Lambo-San has never seen a Legendary item before!”</p><p>Skull couldn’t resist Lambo’s puppy eyes and handed the helmet over to the jubilant child, an involuntary smile stretching across his face at Lambo’s joy.</p><p>“Thanks, Skull-Nii! Waah! It’s so smooth!”</p><p>Skull let the child play with the helmet for a few minutes before taking it back and letting Oodako have a feel with his tentacles with the same wide eyed look on the octopus’ face. Once both of Skull’s companions had had their fill of messing with his helmet, Skull slipped it over his head with a satisfied sigh. <em> I never thought that I’d see this thing again. I forgot how comfortable it was! </em>With the familiar helmet secured on his head, Skull was hit by intense waves of nostalgia. He missed the roar of the crowd as he performed death defying stunts… Welp, no use crying over spilt milk, they were wasting daylight. Skull wanted to arrive in the demon Kingdom before nightfall.</p><p>
  
</p><p>A/N- Here's Skull with his snazzy new Isekai helmet! Shoutout to Lavalamp24 for giving me the prime idea lolol</p><p> </p><p>“Wahh! Skull-Nii looks cool!” Lambo exclaimed, waving his tiny arms in the air, before lowering his face to look at the ground with a pout. “But Lambo-San can’t see Skull-Nii’s pretty face anymore…” Lambo sulked, arms crossed over his chest.</p><p><em> P-pretty? No one’s ever called me pretty before… </em> Skull thought with a blush, oddly touched Lambo’s innocent comment. “Right then guys! Are you ready to go?” Skull asked, looking around for the empty box, only to find that it had disappeared into thin air. <em> Huh, that’s convenient! </em></p><p>Lambo nodded at Skull’s question, sticking his stubby little arms into the air for Skull to pick him up. With a soft laugh, Skull acquiesced with Lambo’s silent request, lifting him up to his free shoulder so that he could leave his arms free just in case.</p><p>“Right then, let’s go!” Skull grinned, accompanied by Lambo’s squeaky cheers and Oodako’s chirps.</p><p>Skull had barely taken five steps before the system pinged so loud that Skull jumped nearly an entire foot in the air in fright, Lambo letting out a shrill ‘Gupyaaa!’ directly into his ear. “Oh my Gods! That scared me!” Skull grumbled under his breath. “What now?” Skull looked up over his head and had to shield his eyes against the harsh blue glow.</p><p>
  <b>CONGRATULATIONS! CONGRATULATIONS! CONGRATULATIONS!</b>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <b>HIDDEN QUEST CLEARED- SAVE CROTOA</b>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <b>INVENTORY SPACE 11-12</b>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <b>REWARD 200XP</b>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <b>EXTRA QUEST REWARDS DEPOSITED IN INVENTORY</b>
</p><p>
  <b>BANDIT’S BANE</b>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <b>CONGRATULATIONS</b>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <b>YOU LEVELLED UP</b>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <b>LEVEL 7-8</b>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <b>XP TO NEXT LEVEL- 231</b>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <b>LEVEL REWARDS</b>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <b>HP- 5482- 5731</b>
</p><p>
  <b>MP FULLY RESTORED- 10032- 10487</b>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <b>INVENTORY SPACE- 12-13</b>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <b>EXTRA REWARDS DEPOSITED IN INVENTORY</b>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <b>SPELL SCROLL- FIREBALL</b>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>“huh, what do you know, a hidden quest.” Skull mumbled “’Didn’t even know that was a thing, nice. Wait a second, Spell scroll?” Skull’s eyes widened in realisation. A new Spell?</p><p>Lambo overheard Skull’s disbelieving mumbles and squirmed heavily on Skull’s shoulder. “What! Skull-Nii got a Spell scroll! That’s not fair! Lambo-San’s never gotten a skill scroll! Skill scrolls are super-duper rare! It's not fair!” Lambo burst into frustrated tears, salty droplets spattering the side of Skull’s exposed neck.</p><p><em> Oh shit! Crying child! What do I do?! </em>Skull dithered, lightly patting the screaming child’s back, locking eyes with an equally panicked Oodako “U-Uh, there there…?”</p><p>Oodako slapped a tentacle to his face in exhasperation.</p><p>Skull made a face at Oodako before turning back to Lambo, wincing at the increasing volumes of his wails. “Hey Lambo! Don’t cry! Do you want some grape candy?”</p><p>Oodako rolled his eyes at him, and Skull could almost hear the Octopus’ thoughts. <em> As if that’s going to work, idiot. </em></p><p>At the magic word ‘candy’, Lambo’s piercing wails immediately toned down to miserable sniffles. “Lambo-San wants candy. Lambo-San wants five!”</p><p>Skull latched onto the lifeline, anything to stop Lambo’s headache inducing screeching, and dug out five pieces of grape candy from the pouch on his belt, sighing in relief at the child’s enthusiastic munching. <em> Thank the gods… </em></p><p>With the child successfully distracted, Skull extracted the Skill Scroll from his inventory. The scroll looked like your typical RPG scroll, a roll of aged yellowing parchment rolled into a tight tube and secured with a crimson ribbon. With the scroll in hand, Skull was met with a notification window.</p><p>
  <b>CONSUME SCROLL? YES/NO</b>
</p><p>Skull stealthily reached out a finger to tap ‘Yes’</p><p>
  <b>CONGRATULATIONS!</b>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <b>NEW SPELL ACQUIRED!</b>
</p><p>
  <b>FIREBALL</b>
</p><p>The scroll that Skull was tightly grasping fractured into countless bright blue fractals, accompanied with the distinct sound of shattering glass. Once the scroll had disappeared, Skull relaxed with a sigh of relief, hopefully Lambo would forget about it since he technically no longer had the scroll. Skull looked over to Oodako with a weary smile. “Let’s go buddy.”</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>A couple of hours later saw the ragtag trio trekking through yet another forest. <em> Seriously, what is it with this world and creepy forests? </em>So far, they had not encountered any enemies, which Skull was pretty heckin’ happy about, though the general atmosphere of their surroundings reminded Skull of the haunted house that Skull’s circus put on for every Halloween. Skull struggled to see the path ahead through the tinted visor of his helmet, but refused to give up the feeling of security that wearing it brought.</p><p>From what he could see of the forest around him (Which wasn’t much), the trees were densely packed, leaving only tiny gaps that Skull could only just squeeze through. The thick canopy of shadowy leaves blocked the majority of the sunlight above, making it difficult to see the path ahead, even without a helmet. Thin, spindly vines were draped between the trees like a spiderweb, wrapped around branches like an anaconda choking the life out of its prey.</p><p>“Wait a sec guys, I’m just going to check my map to see if we’re still going in the right direction.” Skull paused in his tracks before pulling up his map, humming happily when he saw that they were still on the right course with only what looked to be a single kilometre left to go. “We’ll get there soon Lambo, then you can see your Tsuna-Nii again!”</p><p>At the mention of Lambo’s mysterious Tsuna-Nii, the boy perked up from his bored daze on Skull’s shoulder. “Tsuna-Nii! Lambo-San wants to see Tsuna-Nii! Lambo-San wants to eat Mama’s cooking!” Lambo shouted, almost deafening Skull’s left ear.</p><p>Skull let out a strange combination of a smile and a wince at Lambo’s enthusiasm, surreptitiously rubbing at his aching ear, only to freeze at a low menacing growl emanating from the nearby bushes. <em> Shit! And it was going so well! I’m going to have to have a talk with Lambo later about yelling in places where there’s monsters around… </em></p><p>The growls grew louder as the bushes rustled to Skull’s right, blood thirsty glowing green eyes peeking through the gaps in the leaves. The possible threat to his precious people ignited a sickening combination of possessive rage and anxiety in the pit of Skull’s stomach.</p><p>At the sight of the monsters, Skull plucked both Oodako and Lambo off of his shoulders and set them down on a low tree branch behind him. “Oodako, look after Lambo for me!” Skull cried urgently as he spun back to face the threat, assuming a battle stance. Out of the corner of his eye, Skull saw Oodako nod solemnly in agreement.</p><p>Skull was just about to call upon his Shinigami’s Scythe, when a sudden thought struck him. <em> Wait a second, if I can check item info, can I check monster info? Welp, It’s worth a try! </em>Skull drew in a deep breath before shouting, “Enemy info!”, voice wavering with nerves. No matter how many times he would have to face enemies, he would never get used to it, Skull thought to himself with a nervous shiver.</p><p>At Skull’s cry, three blue status windows appeared over the rustling bushes.</p><p>
  <b>TREE WOLF- LEVEL 3</b>
</p><p><em> Wait a second, Tree Wolves? Weren’t those the things I hunted with that asshole party? They were really heccin’ easy to kill, and I was only like, level one! </em> The slick feeling of anxiety in Skull’s chest eased when he realised that he could easily keep the monsters away from Lambo and Oodako, before another idea popped into his head. <em> Wait, isn’t this the perfect opportunity to test out my new skill? If it doesn’t kill them, then I can finish them off with Shinigami’s Scythe! </em>Nodding resolutely to himself, the last of Skull’s anxiety disappeared.</p><p>“Let’s do this. Fireball!” At Skull’s command, a swirling ball of purple flame with orange flecks about the size of his head materialised before him, before shooting towards Skull’s chosen target, almost faster than his eyes could follow. The fireball impacted with the bush, blowing the three wolves into the air like ragdolls with an explosion of purple flame.</p><p>
  <b>CONGRATULATIONS!</b>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <b>TREEWOLF DEFEATED</b>
</p><p>
  <b>TREEWOLF DEFEATED</b>
</p><p>
  <b>TREEWOLF DEFEATED</b>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <b>75 EXP</b>
</p><p>
  <b>EXP TO NEXT LEVEL- 156</b>
</p><p>Skull grinned in triumph, a thin wisp of pride flickering in his chest at his accomplishment. <em> That was quick! That spell’s pretty good! And Aline said that it was just a beginner spell! Welp, time to move on, we’re almost at the Demon Kingdo- </em> Another menacing growl sounded from behind him, close to where he had hidden Oodako and Lambo. <em> Shit! </em></p><p>Skull summoned his scythe to his hands, but before he could whirl around to finish off the last wolf, an ear splitting crack echoed off of the trees around them, accompanied with a sharp yelp. The sight that greeted Skull once he had completely spun around had his mouth dropping open in dumbfounded shock. “What in the…?”</p><p>Oodako had… grown?</p><p>The tiny octopus, who was barely the height of Skull’s forearm, had grown to the size of a small house, purple flame flickering over his red skin. The surrounding trees had been flattened into splinters under Oodako’s immense weight. Oodako was holding Lambo far above the treeline and out of danger with a single tentacle wrapped around the child’s body like an anaconda. Oodako lifted a tentacle to reveal the last Treewolf flattened into a gruesome pancake of crushed root and viscous green sap.</p><p>
  <em> Ew. </em>
</p><p>
  <b>CONGRATULATIONS!</b>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <b>TREEWOLF DEFEATED</b>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <b>EXP SHARING IN EFFECT</b>
</p><p>
  <b>25 EXP</b>
</p><p>
  <b>EXP TO NEXT LEVEL- 131</b>
</p><p>Letting out a satisfied chirp a full two octaves deeper than the octopus’ normally sweet voice, Oodako began to shrink before Skull’s very eyes, lowering Lambo gently to the ground along with him. After a few seconds, Oodako had completely reverted back to his original tiny form. Skull picked his jaw off the ground and jogged over the others. “Holy fu-fuzzbuckets, Oodako!”</p><p>Oodako flinched back at the sound of Skull’s loud voice, thinking that he was in trouble.</p><p>“That was so fu-fudging cool! I knew I should have checked your status page! Have you got any other awesome skills yet?” Skull exclaimed, arms windmilling in the air with his enthusiasm. His familiar was so fucking cool!</p><p>Realising that he wasn’t in trouble, Oodako straightened up from his cowering slouch, eyes crinkling at the corners in happiness at Skull’s praise, tentacles wiggling in glee.</p><p>“Wahh! Skull-Nii! That was scary!” A tiny warm weight attached itself to Skull’s leather clad leg. Lambo buried his face into Skull’s leg, frightened tears clinging at the corners of his tightly shut eyes.</p><p>Fearing another loud breakdown, Skull quickly gathered the scared child in his arms and cuddled him softly against his chest. “Don’t worry Lambo! The scary wolves are gone now!  Me and Oodako got rid of them!” Skull soothed, running a hand in circles over the back of Lambo’s cow printed onesie. “Come on, let’s go find your Tsuna-Nii so you can eat your Mama’s cooking!”</p><p>Lambo brightened at Skull’s words, wiping away the moisture from his eyes with his tiny mittened hands. “Y-Yeah! Tsuna-Nii would be lost without Lambo-San! So Lambo-San has to go and help Tsuna-Nii!”</p><p>
  <em> Crisis averted. </em>
</p><p>Skull scooped up Oodako and plopped him on his right shoulder, smiling lightly when Oodako gently nuzzled the side of his face. “Right then, let’s go team- Wait a second!” Didn’t Ly say that Treewolf parts go for a lot of money? <em> Shit, I don’t know how to gut a fucking wolf. Welp, into the inventory you go! </em> The monster corpses littering the forest floor disappeared in a flash of blue light before reappearing in Skull’s inventory. <em> There’s got to be somewhere in the Demon Kingdom that’ll take these apart for me, right? </em>Skull thought to himself with a nod, mentally adding it to his to do list underneath ‘finding and purchasing makeup that wouldn’t make him want to claw his own face off or make him look like a clown.’</p><p>After about twenty minutes of picking their way through the dense undergrowth, the air shifted with an inexplicable change. The persistent uneasy feeling that had plagued the trio for their entire trek through the woods dissipated, instead replaced by a faint feeling of warmth and safety.</p><p>“We’re here! I can feel Tsuna-Nii’s flames!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ayo, pls pls pls leave a comment, interaction keeps me alive!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Into the Demon's Lair</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Sorry for the short chapter guys, but this one really kicked my ass! I'll try to do better on the next one.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“We’re here! Lambo-San can feel Tsuna-Nii’s flames!” Lambo cried, squirming in excitement on Skull’s shoulder, tiny mittened hands gripping tightly at Skull’s armour for balance. “Lambo-San wants to eat Mama’s cooking now!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Skull grinned at Lambo’s enthusiasm, the child’s happiness infectious. “Hey Lambo, do you know which way we should go?” Skull asked, scanning for any significant landmarks on his map. But like before, the entirety of the Demon Kingdom was blank, with only the tiny area around Skull’s blinking icon clear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lambo wiggled around until he could peek over Skull’s shoulder. “Can Skull-Nii show Lambo-San his map?” Lambo yelled directly into his ear.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Holy shit, I’m going to end up half deaf at this rate- Wait, is that a thing? </span>
  </em>
  <span>“Eh? Show you my map? I can do that?” Skull asked, bemused. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Is there a user’s manual for this thing?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eh? Skull-Nii doesn’t know? Gyahaha! The Great Lambo-San will be Skull-Nii’s teacher! I’ve seen Tsuna-Nii do it tons of times!” Lambo struggled to his feet on Skull’s shoulders, keeping a hand on Skull’s helmet for balance. “Listen carefully to the Great Lambo-San’s instructions, Skull-Nii! It’s a very complicated, advanced, special move!” Lambo planted his free hand on his hip, puffing out his tiny chest in pride.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Skull tilted his head closer, ready to take mental notes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Say screen-share!”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Eh? That’s it? </span>
  </em>
  <span>“Is that all I’ve gotta do Lambo?” Skull asked, raising his voice slightly so that he could hear himself over Oodako’s amused chitters in his other ear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lambo’s wide grin stretched so wide that it threatened to rip his tiny face in two. “Yup!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Skull shook his head, deciding to wilfully ignore the ridiculous situation. “Screen-share!” The now familiar sound of the system notification echoed through the air, and a tiny icon depicting a person’s silhouette appeared in the corner, followed by the number two.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gyahaha! Lambo-San can see Skull-Nii’s screen! Isn’t the Great Lambo-San the best teacher in the world!” Lambo threw his back with uncontrollable laughter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Letting out an amused puff of air from his nose and exchanging an exasperated glance with Oodako, Skull reached back and patted Lambo gently on the head. “Of course Lambo is the best teacher in the world! Now, which way should we go?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With an excited grin, Lambo leaned forwards and pointed a stubby finger a spot to the north. “Awesome! Doesn’t look like it’ll take us too long to get there! Onwards!” Skull cheered, joined by Lambo’s happy squeal and Oodako’s contented chirps.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>A few hours of exhausted trekking later saw the trio stumbling along an uneven dirt road. “Uh, Lambo? Are you sure we’re going the right way?” Skull furtively scanned his surroundings. There wasn’t a soul in sight, empty plains of grass stretched as far as the eye could see, verdant green blades of grass swaying gently in the lazy breeze. Tiny mouse like creatures with long, wispy ears and legs like a kangaroo bounced through the lush fields. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Welp, not as bad as it could have been! At least it’s not another bloody forest! But then again, I’m not seeing any castles… Oh, I have an idea! Enemy info!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Hundreds of glowing blue screens blinked into existence in all directions with a mighty ping. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Wow! There’s more than I thought! Let’s see what we have here… Hmm, Level one Field Mice? They don’t look anything like the field mice from back home! Oh well, I’m not gonna question it.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Lambo tugged petulantly at the collar of Skull’s leather armour. “Lambo-San is sure! Skull-Nii is going the right way!” Lambo whined directly into Skull’s ear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Skull rubbed discreetly at his ear to soothe away the painful ringing from Lambo’s shrill voice. “Right, Lambo is right of course!” </span>
  <em>
    <span>At least I hope so, I’m not sure if I can keep walking for much longer- Ouch!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Lambo grabbed Skull by the helmet and pulled his as much strength as his tiny arms could muster.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ow! Lambo! What are you doing?!” Skull half shouted, his helmet tugging painfully at his chin and nose. Oodako twined a tentacle around Lambo’s arm, attempting to halt the child’s attempts to twist Skull’s head off of his shoulders.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Skull-Nii! Skull-Nii! Go left! Go left! We’re here!” Lambo borderline screamed in excitement, tugging harder at Skull’s helmet.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Left? But I don’t see anything, all I can see is grass! </span>
  </em>
  <span>After a moment of pained deliberation, Skull eventually decided to just go along with Lambo’s whims, at least to make him stop tugging at Skull’s head. “OK! OK! I’m going!” Skull called, reluctantly leaving the beaten path and wading through the ankle length grass, tiny mouse creatures skittering out of his path like crabs at the beach. Skull’s already fatigued legs screamed in protest at the added resistance of the grass, slowing Skull’s powerful steps into a reluctant trudge.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“OK Lambo, how far am I supposed to be goin- OW!” Skull smacked into what felt like a stone wall. Rubbing his acheing forehead as he stepped back, Skull looked around for the culprit. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Huh? There’s nothing there… </span>
  </em>
  <span>Skull cautiously reached out a hand, feeling the air around him until his palm hit something solid. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What is that? There’s nothing there, but I can feel something! </span>
  </em>
  <span>“Oodako, you try!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Oodako wrenched his eyes away from where Skull had his hand pressed against tbe invisible mass, before cautiously extendining a tentacle. Oodako’s bright green eyes widened in shock as his tentacle curved upwards as it hit something solid.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Skull locked eyes with an equally confused and mystified Oodako while continuously rubbing his hand across the invisible mass.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tsuna-Nii! Lambo-San has returned!” Lambo’s ear piercing screech jolted both Skull and Oodako out of their dazed exploration of the invisible wall, Skull jumping almost a foot off of the ground at the unexpected noise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hieeee! Lambo!” A boy’s voice rang out through the air.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Skull jerked backwards and brought his arms up into a sloppy defensive pose at the sudden noise, Oodako mimicking his movements. A boy stood to Skull’s right, wide brown eyes wide in shock. The boy was short in stature, even shorter than Skull himself, which was an impressive feat. He had fluffy gravity defying brown hair that feathered out around the boy’s delicate face. But what really drew Skull’s attention was what the boy was wearing. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Is that a suit?! And a cape?! He looks like he just walked straight out of the mafia! Wait a second, where the hell did they get suits from?!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tsuna-Nii!” Lambo shrieked, flinging himself off of Skull’s shoulder and barelling into the boy- Tsuna’s chest, sending him crashing to the ground with an oomph. Lambo burst out into loud sobs, fat tears trickling down from his face and wetting Tsuna’s grey pinstriped vest. “Tsuna-Nii! Lambo-San was scared! Humans are mean! Lambo-San is hungry! Lambo-San wants to eat Mama’s cooking!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tsuna sat up with a pained wince, rubbing the back of his head with a gloved hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tenth! Are you alright, Tenth?!” A rougher voice rang out. This time, Skull was able to see a silver haired boy wearing another suit appear out of thin air, a frantic look on his pale face, hands flailing through the air in blatant worry. When the boy caught sight of Lambo on Tsuna’s chest, a thunderous scowl replaced his doting expression. “You stupid cow! What did you do to the Tenth?!” He bent down and snatched Lambo by the back of his onesie, hefting him into the air and shaking Lambo violently back and forth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gupyaaa! Lambo-San didn’t do anything!” Lambo shrieked, pounding his tiny fists in the boy’s arm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Unable to hold himself back, Skull stepped forward. “Hey!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both Tsuna and the silver haired boy’s eyes snapped to Skull’s face, their previously loose postures stiffening into a battle-ready stance. “Hieee! A human?!” Tsuna scrambled to his feet only to be pushed back by the other boy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stand back Tenth! I’ll take care of this pest!” The boy tossed Lambo back to Tsuna and flicked his wrists. Four sticks of- </span>
  <em>
    <span>What the fuck?! Is that dynamite?! Where the fuck did they get that from in a world like this?!- </span>
  </em>
  <span>What looked to be dynamite appeared in the boy’s clenched hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lambo squirmed in Tsuna’s grip and whacked dynamite-boy on the back of the head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“OW! What the hell, Stupid Cow?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stop it Octopus-Head!”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Eh? That’s octopus-head? I thought that it would be a demon with a literal octopus head…</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Skull-Nii saved me from the mean humans! He’s a nice human!” Lambo windmilled his arms through the air to emphasize his point. “Leafy-Nii thinks so too!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Skull-Nii?” dynamite-boy mumbled under his breath in disbelief. “Oi! Why the hell were you talking to that anti-social bastard, Leif?! He’s undercover in the human Kingdom! Why the hell were you in the Human Kingdom Idiot Cow?!” Dynamite-boy growled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Frustrated tears sprung to Lambo’s wide eyes. “Lambo-San went to prove that Lambo-San is good enough to activate his system!” Lambo borderline screamed from Tsuna’s arms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gokudera. Lambo. Enough. We can continue this inside.” A calm smooth voice interrupted the two’s arguing.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Holy shit! Was that Tsuna?! That doesn’t sound anything like him!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Skull snapped his eyes back to Tsuna before almost recoiling in shock. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What the hell?! His face is on fire! Why the hell isn’t anyone helping him?! Doesn’t it hurt?! </span>
  </em>
  <span>Skull thought frantically to himself as his eyes darted between the three completely unfazed demons.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tsuna nodded in satisfaction at the blissful silence, before turning back to where he and Gokudera had appeared from, inclining his head slightly for Skull to follow before disappearing back into thin air with Lambo.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A low growl jolted Skull out of his open-mouthed staring. “Well? Are you going or not?” Gokudera scowled, arms deceptively loose by his sides, though Skull knew from experience that he would be able to jump into action at the drop of a hat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“U-Uh, yeah. I’m going.” Skull sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, fluffy purple locks bouncing with his movements. Walking over to the spot where Tsuna and Lambo had disappeared, Skull steeled himself for what he might see. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What would a demon castle even look like? I hope it doesn’t look like those Demon Lord castles from those RPGs… I don’t think that my heart could take it… </span>
  </em>
  <span>Skull’s mind flitted from one horrible image to the next. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ugh, I hope that there’s not severed human heads mounted on the wall like in Jewel Quest…</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Skull dithered in front of the spot where Tsuna had disappeared, reluctant to ste;p into a den of possible enemies, Oodako shivering in silent nervousness on his shoulder. Feeling Gokudera’s eyes boring into his back, becoming more intense the longer he waited, Skull soothed himself by petting Oodako’s soft head. “I-It’s OK Oodako! There’s nothing to be afraid of! Lambo wouldn’t lead us into a trap!” </span>
  <em>
    <span>I think…</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>With one final gulp, Skull lifted Oodako off of his shoulder and into his arms, hugging the octopus to his chest. “Let’s go.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. They Multiply?!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The first thing that registered in Skull’s brain as he stepped across the threshold was an unnatural, tingling chill that seeped into his bones. Skull’s violet eyes widened in wonder as the previously empty grassy fields morphed into sprawling well-kept grounds and gardens. Tiny chirping balls of pure white fluff bounced from flower to flower with barely audible squeaks, drifting lazily through the air.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oi! Hurry up, Human!” Gokudera’s irritated voice snapped Skull’s attention away from the enchanting garden, a stifled curse on his painted lips.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Coming! Coming!” Skull hurried after the demons’ retreating backs, once again cursing his short legs, as he had to jog to keep pace with Gokudera’s longer strides. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Actually, where’s Tsuna and Lambo? They were here just a second ago… </span>
  </em>
  <span>Skull bought a gloved hand up to scratch puzzledly at his head. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I don’t get it… Where could they have even gone- Oh…”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull once again stopped in his tracks at the magnificent sight before him. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Holy shit! How did I miss that?! </span>
  </em>
  <span>At the opposite end of the sprawling grounds, stood one of the most intimidating buildings that Skull had ever seen. Dark twisted spires stretched towards the darkening sky like crooked fingers. The castle was crafted out of stones as black as the dead of night, so dark that the castle itself almost seemed like a deep shadow instead of a corporeal object.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another warning growl from Gokudera spurred Skull into jogging after the demon’s longer strides.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After about five minutes of walking (More like frantic scrambling on Skull’s part, but hey, who’s counting?) the trio reached the wrought doors of the castle. With an ominous creak, the double doors slowly swung open before them, without Gokudera even laying a hand upon the icy metal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull clenched his eyes shut. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh gods… I don’t even want to look! Will it be as scary as the outside?! I don’t know if I can take it- </span>
  </em>
  <span>Skull forcefully shook his head from side to side, not noticing Oodako’s quizzical look at the cloud’s sudden movement. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What am I thinking? It’ll be fine! Remember when you thought that Lambo would be a big scary demon? Yeah, and look how that turned out! </span>
  </em>
  <span>Skull scolded himself, resolutely opening his eyes and crossing the threshold into the castle.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Immediately, Skull was struck by how… not scary the interior was. Sconces lit with warm orange flame lined the red painted walls, casting a warm glow across the dozens of pictures framed on the wall, and a veritable wall of pure soothing warmth washed over him as soon as Skull stepped through the door. Skull followed closely behind Gokudera as he marched briskly through the entry hall, marvelling at the softness of the red carpet that he could feel even through his thick leather boots.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Curiously, Skull scanned the pictures as he passed, absentmindedly petting Oodako who purred contently at Skull’s attention. Out of the many people depicted in the pictures, Skull was only able to recognise Lambo, Gokudera, and Tsuna himself, though there was one guy in particular that felt kind of familiar. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I swear, I’ve seen that guy before! But where? Is it the eyes? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Skull brought a hand up to rub thoughtfully at his chin, trying to think back to where he had seen such icy silver eyes before. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ugh, this is going to annoy me until I figure this out. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Skull thought, frustrated, a petulant pout crossing his face as the niggling in the back of his mind grew stronger every time the boy appeared in a picture.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull wracked his thoughts for where he had seen this silver eyed boy, before a particular picture stopped him in his tracks. </span>
  <em>
    <span>W-who is that…? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Skull thought breathlessly, amethyst eyes widening as his mouth dropped open in surprise.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The picture itself was huge, taller than Skull himself and easily dwarfing the other pictures adorning the walls. The focus of the picture was clearly Tsuna, who sat squarely in the centre in an ornate gold chair with plush red velvet that looked like it cost more than what Skull could make in a year at the circus. Stood around Tsuna’s chair, were the same people that were depicted in the other pictures, including Gokudera with his hand resting lightly on the armrest, and Lambo sitting proudly on Tsuna’s lap. Though what really drew Skull’s attention was the shadowy figure standing behind Tsuna.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The figure stood facing away from Skull, head tilted back to look slyly back over their shoulder, though any defining features were obscured by the meticulously painted shadows, leaving only a bright sliver of yellow visible over a single devious eye that seemed to stare into Skull’s soul. Skull couldn’t see much of the mysterious figure, but the sight of it inexplicably sent an odd combination of terror and heart-wrenching longing through Skull’s chest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“OI! How many times do I have to tell you to keep up?!” Gokudera’s irritated yells sent Skull jumping a solid foot in the air. Gokudera glared at Skull from across the hall, hand clenched so tightly that Skull could see the colour slowly leeching from the demon’s knuckles.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“S-Sorry!” With one last glance at the picture, Skull scurried towards Gokudera, choosing to ignore the grumpy grumbles that included charming lines such as ‘Why are humans so stupid?’ and ‘maybe the Tenth will let me kick its ass later’.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once Skull had caught up, Gokudera rolled his eyes and shoved open an ornate wooden door, jerking his head for the cloud to enter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull whooshed out a relieved breath at the sight of Tsuna reclining on an</span>
  <span> overstuffed couch, smiling indulgently at a wildly rambling Lambo. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh thank the gods! I won't have to stay alone with Mr Grumpy over there anymore!</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsuna’s unnatural orange eyes flicked up at the quiet creak of the door. “Hello. Please take a seat” Tsuna inclined his head, flame still flickering brightly at his brow, indicating the many comfortable looking couches and armchairs scattered throughout the snug room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Skull-Nii! Come on! Come and sit with Lambo-San!” Lambo tugged insistently at Skull’s leg, dragging him over to a couch opposite Tsuna.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull sank into the soft pillows with a weary groan. now that the adrenaline high from meeting and getting threatened by Lambo’s literal demon family had passed, Skull could feel his muscles protesting the harsh pace that he had pushed earlier in the day to reach the castle. A slight crease appeared between Skull’s brows as he thought back on the mysterious figure in the portrait in the hall. </span>
  <em>
    <span>That weird tugging feels like when that creepy checker faced dick jerked me through the- Ugh. Now that’s a mental image that I didn’t need. I’m just going to forget that that sentence even crossed my mind, and repress this memory in a way that I’m sure is completely healthy…</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Skull-San.” Skull snapped his gaze back to Tsuna at the sound of the demon’s eerily calm voice, mortified at having been caught daydreaming. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Huh, I didn’t even hear him move… </span>
  </em>
  <span>Gokudera had seemingly teleported from his spot at the door, and now stood behind Tsuna, a soul shrivelling glare directed at Skull.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oi! How dare you disrespect the Tenth! Listen to the Tenth’s words of absolute wisdom!” Gokudera yelled, hands twitching suspiciously in the direction of his sleeves.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oodako;s slight weight in his shoulder seemed to grow heavier as the octopus growled menacingly at the threat, tentacles winding securely around Skull’s neck as he moved his small body in front of Skull’s vital points.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gokudera. Enough.” Tsuna said calmly, bringing a hand up to rest lightly on Gokudera's arm.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull’s jaw nearly dropped as Gokudera instantly melted, tension draining from his shoulders as he leaned his body into Tsuna’s hand. “Yes, Tenth.” Gokudera said adoringly, shooting a besotted smile at Tsuna before sending another withering glare at Skull. “Che.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull’s shoulders sagged in relief when the demon finally stalked away to lean against the wall, though he still watched Skull’s ever move like a hawk.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Please excuse my right hand.” Tsuna said, ignoring the choked up ‘Tenth!’ from Gokudera. “We’re not particularly friendly with humans at the moment.” Glowing orange eyes watched Lambo as he hugged Skull’s arm to his tiny chest. “Though I can see that Lambo’s taken a shine to you. You’ll have to tell me how you managed to navigate his tantrums.” Tsuna’s lips quirked up into a faint smile. “They can be quite destructive.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Skull sheepishly laughed and rubbed a hand against the back of his helmet in embarrassment, not used to such sincere prais</span>
  <span>e.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsuna laced his fingers under his chin and leant forwards, eyes fixed on Skull. “So. Lambo was telling me about what happened, and I have just one question for you, Skull-San. Do you have any ulterior motives for bringing Lambo back to us?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No.” Skull didn’t even have to think about the answer. </span>
  <em>
    <span>What sort of asshole would use the excuse of taking a kid back home to get at his family? </span>
  </em>
  <span>“I’d only been on one mission with my party when we’d gotten a report of a demon in the area. I’d never seen a demon before, so I thought that it’d be some sort of huge monster or something, since that’s what my party made you guys sound like, not a literal child.” Skull said, ruffling Lambo’s afro as he talked, making the child squeal in delight.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Che. Of course they would. Humans are too stupid to realise that we only retaliate against what they do to us first.” Gokudera scoffed from his place against the wall, rolling his eyes in furious exasperation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tsuna watched Skull silently, glowing orange eyes staring intently at his face. After a few moments of tense silence, the orange flame on Tsuna’s brow flickered out, and the bright orange in his eyes receded into a warm brown. Instantly, Tsuna went from ‘intimidating demon who could probably rip out his spine through his mouth’ to ‘literal child. Must protect’ in about 0.3 seconds.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hieee! Lambo! What are you doing to our guest!?” Tsuna shrieked, scrambling off of the sofa and almost tripping over thin air in his haste to get to the child, all the gracefulness from earlier gone without a trace.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lambo stuck his tongue out at Tsuna from where he was hanging off of Skull’s raised arm, swinging off of Skull’s bicep like a monkey bar. “Bleh! Lambo-San bets that Tsuna-Nii can’t catch him!” Lambo screeched back and leapt off of Skull’s arm.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hiee! Lambo!” Tsuna began to chase the giggling child in circles, tripping over everything in his path, including his own two feet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Idiot cow! Don’t annoy the tenth!” Gokudera yelled, joining the fray as he began chasing after Lambo alongside Tsuna.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>What in the hell…? Wasn’t I fearing for a life just a second ago? How did they manage to transform from scary-as-balls demons, into literal fucking children in less than a freaking second? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Skull thought to himself, exchanging a bewildered glance with Oodako.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suddenly, the sound of a door crashing into the wall sent skull jumping almost a foot into the air. “HEY TSUNA! WE’RE BACK TO THE EXTREME!” Heavy footsteps grew louder and louder until the door to the room they were in flung open with another heart-stopping crash. “HI TSUNA! WHY ARE YOU IN HERE? NEVER MIND! I’M GOING TO GO TRAIN TO THE EXTREME!” Skull barely caught sight of shortly cropped silver hair before they were gone as quickly as they came.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yo, Tsuna! Oh, Lambo’s back!” A tall black haired boy stepped into the room, grinning softly at the trio of demons sprawled across the floor. “Oh, and what’s this? Do we have a guest?” The boy smiled friendlily at Skull, body deceptively lax. Skull gulped. The stuntman had the distinct impression that underneath that smile, the boy would not hesitate to slit his throat if he turned out to be a threat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oya oya? What’s this about a guest?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Broccoli head!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hi Tsuna-Nii.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Tsuna-Chan!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s with all the monkeys?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“U-Um, H-hello…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hahi! A guest!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Oh my gods they multiplied.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  
</p><p>(A/N: Handsome boi Leif lmaooo)</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Heyoo! Sorry for the heccin late update oh my gods. It's been absolutely mad at uni lmaoo. There's been an anglo-saxon cemetery excavation, and we've gotta conserve all 400 objects between the 12 of us on my course lmaoooo. So please bear with me if any of my chapters are late again ;(((</p><p>But anyway! The handsome boy at the end of the chapter is Leif! someone asked me to draw him and I just couldn't resist! hat being said, if any of y'all want a character or something drawn from this fic, then just say! ! love drawing! </p><p>Finally, please leave a comment, they really make my day, and thank you for reading!</p><p>-Edit-</p><p>Since I can't seem to get the heccin image to work on Archive, here's the link it on my twitter lol</p><p>https://twitter.com/Dirkapitation1/status/1325838243644968960/photo/1<br/></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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